A/N:

🚫Trigger warning🚫 Attempted drugging of unsuspecting Talla with the intention of taking advantage of her. Nothing graphic happens as it doesn't succeed, and she has the guy running by the end of the scene, but thought I should let my readers know lest some be triggered anyways. I will mark the scene so those more uncomfortable with such scenes can skip :)🚫

- Ella


Chapter 14: First Trip to 79's - Part 1

Talla was bursting at the seams with excitement over her new fiery look, but at the same time hoping for reasons she didn't quite understand yet that the Sarge would like it too. Even so, her confidence had shot way up, and she felt good, unique, powerful, like she could take on the entire Separatist regime with her bare hands! It was amazing how a new do and new threads and some painting of the face and nails could EMPOWER her so much! It was like magic!

Standing there in a fool-like stupor Hunter's immediate thought when she emerged was how Talla had given the Mando'a term 'meshla' a whole new meaning to him all over again, and could have sworn time stopped when he laid eyes on this reformed Special Agent Clone...

And he did see that she wanted his approval for some reason...

And he truly wanted to give it...

But unfortunately, as per usual, his ability to be think-y stopped in her evidently intimidating presence, so his mouth declared a response to her makeover to a different and infinitely worse extreme.

"'Bout time, soldier, the others are already at the bar." Karking hells, HE wanted to take that swan dive off the ledge now. His snippy tone was sour and cold and not even remotely supportive, and the second those words flew out of his mouth he regretted it when just like that, all Talla's confidence crumbled and then disintegrated until she was left with nothing but all-consuming feelings of humiliation and self-consciousness.

So, with his tail between his legs, Hunter just briskly fled the awkward situation he had not meant to create, once outside muttering the worst profanities he knew at himself. He did seriously consider taking that leap off the edge to end his suffering and the suffering he brought upon the undeserving Talla.

Kriff, this was exactly why he avoided women in the first place! The only women he ever really encountered were either Jedi Generals, who obviously weren't suitable candidates for a relationship and just plain out of his league overall, OR the ones who hung around the bars his squad visited from time to time, ones who were just looking for a good time and, well, let's just say he was even incapable of playing along with their simple little game of playful words and suggestive actions - he faced this particular fact early on in his life after leaving Kamino: the only 'flirting' he was good at was 'flirting' with death.

And apparently, even simply telling Talla, his squadmate who just happened to be a nice-looking female, whom he had firmly labeled as: OFF LIMITS! telling her that she looked great... apparently that easy concept to grasp was an impossible feat to actually execute!

Right about now, he kinda wished things would go back to normal, back to before she came into their lives and he was forced into this tormental cycle of trying to keep his distance so he wouldn't be given the chance to screw things up on an even larger scale, because imagine if she was emotionally involved with him and he made such demeaning and unfeeling comments! It'd ROYALLY screw her up! And that added another layer of hate towards himself, because after what happened on Silva he had promised himself to do better by her.

What he said in there, that was not doing better.

His one and only consolation was that his brothers experienced similar social difficulties as him with the female of the species... but at the same time it was also pathetically depressing.


"Forget him!" Skylar proclaimed with a stink eye directed at the Sergeants speedily retreating back, the intensity of her loathing for his stupid comment almost burning two holes in his shirt. She briskly turned the deflated woman around so she could offer encouragement to Talla's crestfallen face. "You don't need Hunter's or anyone's approval, 'kay?"

Next to her, Blair firmly concurred. "That's right - no one else's opinion matters! If you like it, that's what's important, Talla, you don't need a stupid guys' validation."

Sitting on the pay counter behind them, carefully checking over his mobile tattoo station in its decorative case, Nik peeked up from his fussing at this dig on his gender and dramatically cleared his throat, "Ahem." And raised his hand to jokingly as for permission to speak, "Uh, stupid guy here," His girlfriend gave him a comical look of acknowledgement, "Yeah, just to defend ME and the other good specimens of my gender -" He gave a synthetic, exaggerated smile of smugness to Talla and placed a hand over his heart in an equally exaggerated gesture to his faux meek and humble soul, "Yes, we do in fact exist -" Then, surprisingly, he dropped the comedian act and became solemn as he explained his version of the put down, "I don't believe Hunter is of the boorish variety, ladies, I've personally drawn the conclusion that -" He shrugged sympathetically, "He just doesn't know how to interact with women, gets tongue-tied, which makes him snippy out of embarrassment," This rather candid statement about his friends personal issues prompted him to hold up his favorite tattoo gun threateningly at each of the ladies to emphasize his upcoming threat, "- and if that leaves this room, I will stun the perp and then permanently wreck her face with the ugliest image Spiky can create."

Nik really didn't give his artistic instruments names, he wasn't that crazy! The man just wanted to lighten the dreary mood again.

After some more reassurances that she looked amazing, and the promise of the trio dropping off her bag of new clothes at the Marauder on their way home while the Bad Batch partied it up at 79's, Talla's was somewhat bolstered again and she found the strength to face the alleged insecure man, who was seen through the windows pulling a Tech by burning a pattern of his own creation into the concrete ground outside through agitated pacing.

Skylar had also managed to bashfully petition the Special Agent to invite Wrecker in her behalf to call her sometime, having been looking for an indirect way to ask him for the better half of two years now because despite her brazen conduct... she found herself clamming up when trying to ask him herself.

Somewhat pulling herself together again, Talla squared her shoulders and lifted her chin proudly to at least give a semblance of confidence before making her way outside the empty parlor.

Nik snapped his case shut half a minute later, finished with the examination of his tools, and hopped off the counter to approach his favorite girls, draping an arm around each one's shoulders and pecking his girlfriend's head. They all sighed in gratification at seeing the accomplishments they had achieved today awkwardly interact outside.

"You know that Hunter's got it bad, right?" Blair openly commented to her boyfriend, seeing Hunter visibly fumble his way through an apology.

Nik had also noted the sputtered words and staggering movements, being more frantic with this particular female then the other women he'd had witnessed Hunter try to interact with during the squads' other visits to the parlor. "It's as plain as the skull tattooed on his face." Then he watched Talla mirroring the man's anxiety. "What about the Agent Wonder?"

Eyes gleaming in excitement over the piece of juicy gossip she was anxious to spill, Blair smirked up to her lover. "When we asked how she was settling in with the Bad Batch boys, Talla made a brief and clueless comment about how she got these weird heart palpitations around the Sarge, and that when they touched it felt like lightning bolts shot through her body -" She nudged his side affectionately, "- sound familiar?"

A hum of understanding was followed by a knowing smirk of his own, "What'd you say to that?"

"We didn't -" Skylar cut in, wanting to prevent a swap-spit moment between her brother and best friend who were annoyingly a PDA type of couple, even if in this instance there was a small chance of that happening - it was still a chance. That she was not going to take. "The girl hyper-fixated on the hair-dying process two seconds after that, wanting to know all the science-y mumbo jumbo behind it."

To her satisfaction, her interruption had succeeded in preventing a potential cringy spectator moment, "Eh, probably for the best." Nik agreed with a slight shrug, "I think she's still a bit too starry eyed to really understand all that hefty relationship junk right now."


Snippets of different attempts at apologies sputtered out of Hunter's mouth as soon as Talla was in hearing range, "I'm - I'm really - I - I didn't mean to - I swear I'm - er - Blast it!" He made a noise of total frustration at being reduced to nothing more than a blithering fool who couldn't speak a full sentence, and pinched the bridge of his nose with enough force that it only aggravated the oncoming stress headache instead of helping it go away.

So, she successfully shut him up with a calm raise of her hand, "Let's just forget about it okay?" Her eyes were widened in concern at his unusual, frazzled state, and that was enough to know he was sincerely sorry for his comment back there. "You look like your about to face the Maker." She nervously joked.

He either blatantly ignored that last comment or just didn't hear it, "Sure!" He gave a quick clear of his throat so his high-pitched tone would go back to its normal clipped baritone. "Sure." He shoved his hands into his pockets in an attempt to steady himself, but he still could not look directly at the inquisitive and beautiful Special Agent as he tried plowing on, "But um, full disclosure you do look..."

Come on, you can do it! Bea-U-Ti-ful.

"- nice."

... Wow. Here's your 'Compliment of the Year!' Medal, di'kut.

"I know." Her response to that pathetic compliment sounded believably self-assured, but in reality, it was made to be exactly that so as not to expose the little shreds of doubt that did persist at the back of her mind, but not from Hunter's comment anymore! It was clear that he very sorry about that. It was from her own negative views about herself from Nala Se's torture. "Appreciate it though." Was her next bashful but this time sincere reply so he'd hopefully stop being so wound up, and also because she really did appreciate that he liked the new look. It made her giddy and timid at the same time, and she tried to mask it with a jest towards her makeover that held spiteful intentions, "You really think this'll be enough to stick it to the witchy piece of aiwha-bait?"

"If it doesn't, I don't know what will." Hunter muttered, and he mentally face-palmed because that comment could be taken in a good or bad way, so he immediately jerked his head in the direction his brothers had left in to abruptly change the subject, "We should get going, if I'm not there to monitor the others, Crosshair will get Wrecker completely blasted just for kicks and Tech won't intervene because he avoids all confrontation."

To his sweet relief Talla dropped the awkward conversation they were failing to rescue and fell into a brisk walk alongside him to keep up as he posthaste led the way to the bar, which was several streets over. "The girls told me that this type of drinking establishment has blaring music, crowded floors and bright, flashing strobe lights." He confirmed this description with a short, 'Mm-hm', so she next asked the obvious question, "Isn't that a recipe for disaster with our enhanced senses?"

Thankfully, he became a bit more conversational with such a safe topic, "These chaotic surroundings are the best way to teach you how to control the enhancement so that you can stay grounded out in the field, and don't experience another sensory overload that hurts you or others."

Talla nodded, saying she understood his logic. "Okay, so how exactly do I control it?"

"By keeping focused on the task at hand. In this instance, we're going to focus on getting drinks and keeping an eye on everyone."

Since this tactic had obviously worked well for him after his own misfortunes two years back, Talla had high hopes for Hunter's techniques.


Talla could literally feel vibrations rumbling through the concrete sidewalk from the loud music inside the cantina as they approached the bar, and saw the flashes of colorful and blinding lights that made her wince when they stabbed her enhanced eyes, and newfound apprehension caused her steady stride to falter. "I'm not so sure about this, Sarge." Her tone was brittle, and she considered just skipping the whole lesson and high-tailing back to the Marauder. She had no desire to reexperience what happened to her on Silva. "What if this'll be one of those inevitable times where I lose it and nothing can stop the attack?"

Hunter's look back at her was sparked with determination, "Then I'll get you out of there," He promised, "But either way you're not going to learn unless you try."

"The little green guy they call Grand Master Yoda at the Jedi Temple is known for firsthand teaching all the younglings 'Try not. 'Do'or 'do not,' there is no 'try.'" This little tid bit of information had no stake in the conversation whatsoever, but despite that Hunter's choice of phrasing reminded her of the piece of sage wisdom and caused it to spill from her lips.

Hunter had to fight the urge to roll his eyes, because if he was being totally honest he would rather do anything else too, instead of risk a humiliating meltdown. His senses had been a little out of sorts lately.

And his emotions were a little wonky too.

Okay, he admitted it, with the second one he had definitely been more than subpar in controlling these days, more outbursts in the last week then in his entire two-year career.

"Well let's do it then, because you have to learn one way or another before our next assignment, and it's either my way OR you're going to have to deal with Tech, and Wrecker would be his assistant -" His look was deadpanned as he raised his hand to the access panel, knowing he had made a compelling counter argument, "- need I say more?"

Tech and Wrecker did just level a skyscraper by using explosions to teach fellow trainees. This blood-pressure raising fact is what made her suck in a steadying deep breath before reluctantly nodding in agreement to do it Hunter's comparably easier way, and meekly followed him into the bar.

But as soon as the double doors whooshed open the roar of electrifying music increased exponentially, and Talla felt her heart begin to thrum painfully in her chest so bad the frantic rhythm coursed through her whole body... or maybe it was just the vibrations from the bass. Her eyes darted back and forth to try and make sense of the hectic party atmosphere as the strobe lights flashed from every which way, no relief anywhere from the piercing effect on her sensitive eyes, and various alien species and clones of every rank crowded around her as they trudged further into the dancefloor to reach the bar counter.

In leaps and bounds the overstimulating surroundings were growing to be too much too fast and Talla decided that in order to keep herself from spiraling completely out of control she needed a physical grounding tool and hastily fastened her arms around Hunter's sturdy elbow crook, not able to care about the impropriety of her action towards her squadron's leader.

To her luck though, the man with the same enhanced senses as her, in this moment he was more focused on keeping them both sane instead of his internal battle with keeping distance from the woman both emotionally and physically. So he did her one better and secured her up against his side with a stabilizing arm around her tense shoulders, the close proximity in this instance actually helping to alleviate his own whirling symptoms too instead of making them worse, inadvertently giving Hunter something to hold onto as well. "Concentrate on what we came here for." He reminded himself and more importantly her with an elevated tone, trying to be heard over the blaring music.

Surprisingly, his voice and reassuring squeeze of her shoulders cut through the chaos in her mind, and Talla used all her strength to train her eyes on the bar counter now up ahead, wrapping her own arm around his middle in extra reassurance for both her and him. "Get drinks, watch the others." She muttered to herself. "Get drinks, watch the others. Get drinks, watch the others."

Hunter nodded in affirmation, her mantra also succeeding in keeping himself collected and focused. Usually, Crosshair was his official grounding buddy in these types of establishments who kept a steadying arm around Hunter's shoulders until they found a quieter corner table to sit at. Wrecker also helped by shoving regs or others out of the way to make a clear, unobstructed path so no one would crowd him, and if anyone was occupying the table they desired, let's just say Wrecker's other job was to 'kindly' convince them to politely give it up for his squad.

This was one of the only instances Sergeant Hunter admitted to needing help. His life was filled with so many explosions and constant blaster fire that the time in between missions was unfortunately not as relaxing as they could be with the after-effects of maintaining control of his senses during missions, his entire being riddled with hypersensitivity that could be set off at a moment's notice. And terrible migraines also plagued him, making the side of his head feel like it was being bashed against the console over and over again.

The second and third days were better and so on, but he still had to be mindful of his symptoms and do his best to not spiral out of control if Wrecker had his holovids on too loud and such. He was thankful they had a larger ship now, because it meant he didn't have to make camp outside when Wrecker was being too loud. He simply huddled up in the cockpit where the insulation and thicker walls/door muffled the noise from the common area enough that it was almost nonexistent.

The only reason he went to these types of places in the first place was because he knew the alcohol would numb his senses and because he also knew the others would somehow manage blow the buildings off the face of the planet without him monitoring their actions.

Working together, Hunter and Talla made it to the counter without either partner breaking down, and a light blue Twi'leki bartender happily greeted them loudly to be heard over the booming speakers, "Hey, Hunter! The others said you were coming! How ya been?"

Having triumphantly made it to their first destination Hunter was able to release some of the pent up tensions, and saw the suggestive look the bartender - Neel - gave him at seeing the couple 'unable to keep their hands off of each other,' and it was followed by a proud thumbs up that said 'My man!'

So of course, Hunter sprung away from Talla without thinking she might still need him and was swift to veer the conversation away from him and his alleged girlfriend.

And of course, the absence of her buddy caused Talla to grip onto something else - the counter's edge - as her ears went from being abused by the ear-splitting tunes to now resonating a shrill ringing of its own creation, and after that she was unable hear anything else until Hunter shook her shoulder a minute or five or ten later, after he had finished catching up with his bartender friend.

Her hysterical gaze shifted from her white knuckles, caused by the death grip onto counter, to the concerned Hunter looking down at her. "Huh?"

"Whaddya want to drink?" The bartender loudly wanted to know, trying to be patient as people had started forming a line behind the pair of clone soldiers.

Talla's expression was blank, having a hard time trying to make sense of her surroundings with this cursed ear ringing, and the spiked blood pressure was no picnic either. Kriff, did I run fifty laps around club and completely forget it?! Hunter squeezed her shoulder again, silently telling her to come back to the present, and then the task at hand was miraculously remembered. "Uh... what do you recommend?" Talla queried in a loud tone, having zero clue what was good to order or not.

Neel grinned and probably chuckled, but she couldn't tell over the roaring music. "First time in a place like this, huh?"

Talla's returned smile was sheepish but still, she discovered that conversing made it easier to keep herself grounded. "Is it that obvious?"

He tossed a hand, dismissing her self-consciousness. "Don't worry, I'll start you off with something easy."

"Or you could just get her a soda?" Hunter interposed, thinking about her undignified reaction to caf.

But she immediately refused his efforts to spare her any embarrassment tonight. "No, I don't want to be a party pooper!" Plus, she was curious about the intoxicants served here.

Hunter knew he would seriously regret allowing this but relented, unable to say no, and handed the bartender the proper amount of credits for their drinks. "Give her a Coruscant Cooler." He hoped a light fruity cocktail would be a good start for someone inexperienced with drinking and would have the least repercussions.

The bartender took the money with an obliging wink. "Coming right up, my friends."

Hunter thought the wink was another tease directed at the previously misread situation, but one look at the struggling Talla next to him showed she had missed the whole exchange which allowed him to express his concern without too much feelings of discomfort, "You doing okay?"

She mimicked his position of casually leaning against the counter to see if it'd help - it didn't - so she had to suck in another deep breath to try and calm the niggling symptoms of a sensory overload threatening to take over. "Well, I haven't lost control yet, so I guess that's a good sign, but it's taking all of my energy and concentration to fight off another attack." Her distraught filled eyes darted this way and that, wanting to make sense of the blinding strobe lights, equally fluorescent holo-screens portraying different sports matches or something else exciting, clones and other species alike grooving to the thrilling beat, and she winced from the strident music, holding her aching head throbbing in tune to the thumping beat, then gave calm Hunter an incredulous once over as he currently looked only marginally affected from the chaotic atmosphere. "How are you okay?!"

"Trust me, it gets easier as time goes by... plus Neel already gave me a shot of somethin' strong to help me out."

Talla made a noise of intrigue. "So alcohol sooths the hypervigilance?" Nod. "Duly noted."

Great, now I have two guzzling kids to monitor. Hunter was about to give her the same 'drink in moderation' speech Tech subjected them all to when their initial drinking habits got out of hand, but a sleazy looking Togruta passed them by and gave his unsuspecting companion a once-over of the lewd variety, now aware of the goddess-like beauty who had delightfully appeared in the vicinity.

A surge of protectiveness at a level Hunter had never experienced before made the clone sergeant give the bastard an outraged scowl that sent him on his way, but not without another indecent sweep of the alluring Talla who was again too distracted to notice, wondering why a green female Twi'lek nearby was giving her such a dirty look.

Talla was just standing here, next to Hunter, waiting for their drinks - what could she have possibly done to offend her without actually speaking to her?

After receiving said drinks and giving a small tip of five creds to the slammed bartender, the duo next went to see where the other three had set up camp. Dodging dancing people and waitress droids on the way up to the second floor, they were found in a secluded booth in the darkest and quietest corner, the lights bright instead flashing and the music loud as opposed to blaring. It still wasn't ideal circumstances for hypersensitivity, but in some ways made it easier to maintain.

'Course, the barely more hushed setting was obscured once Wrecker, who appeared well on his way to becoming quote unquote 'blasted,' boomingly greeted them once they arrived, "HEY HUNTER! HEY TAL - WOW, YOU LOOK GREAT!"

Tala's smile in hello was strained as she shakily slid into the booth between Wrecker and Hunter, who settled onto the edge of the booth on her left side. Wrecker's shouting had effectively wrecked her control and forced her to focus on the bright red mixed drink Hunter had deemed okay for breaking her into the world of intoxication, and did not respond to her squadmates compliment.

Hunter would have been envious of his brother's ability to deliver a compliment with such ease while he could not, but one look and sniff told him Wrecker was far too gone to even feel remotely shy, and sent a disapproving look Crosshair's way, who at this moment was 'captivated' in Tech's spiel about the cut of clothes flattering to each of their body shapes and why. After that offhand comment from Nik's girlfriend that insinuated they were so brainbolted as to willingly wear those horrid clothes, the offended genius had apparently taken this as a challenge against his brilliancy and spent the entire duration of Hunter's five hour appointment researching the latest fashions on Coruscant.

Hmph. No one called exceptionally minded Tech a moof-milker.

Back to Talla, a curious sniff at the red-colored, sweet-scented liquid was followed by a tentative sip. The fruity smell misled her as a burning liquid coated her throat with strange tingling sensations as it went down, and her face screwed up while a choke exited her lips. "Is alcohol supposed to burn like that?"

Already onto his third mixed drink in the hard liquor category, Wrecker slammed his now empty cup down onto the table with a thud, a loud, satisfied sigh as part of the answer to her curiosity. "YEAH! Ain't it great!"

Talla took another sip with a pensive look on her face, and hummed after as the burning wasn't actually unpleasant the second time around now that she expected it.

Her hesitation to verbally respond made Hunter believe Talla didn't care for it - or maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part - and he reached out to go and replace it with something he was more comfortable with her drinking, something he knew wouldn't do more than give her a slight sugar/caffeine high, and wouldn't end with violent puking or passing out. "I can get you a soda -"

Defensively, she clutched the drink to her chest, out of his reach. "No I kinda like it, back off." She snapped jokingly.

Hunter couldn't help but shake his head in amusement even though they were treading in unfamiliar waters now: Talla's first night out on the town, and they had no idea how much alcohol she would in fact be able to handle. Suspecting he would need a sizeable dose of liquid courage to deal with the inevitable mop up later on, Hunter started sipping on his untouched bottle of beer while Wrecker shot from his seat and slurred over his shoulder, "I'm gonna get more!"

The stagger in his step was already evident. "How many drinks can Wrecker have before he becomes... blasted?" Talla wondered to keep the conversation going.

"There is no set pattern." Tech stated frustratingly, pausing his rant about the fashion universe now opened up to him. "Wrecker enjoys diversity in his choice of alcoholic beverages each time we venture into a cantina, resulting in entirely different variations that are impossible to track."

"Doesn't really matter what he has, he just always has too much of it." Hunter's irked point of view was. "And it doesn't help when Crosshair challenges him to a shot contest."

"Not my fault Wrecker always insists on trying to win when he knows he always loses." Crosshair snickered without an ounce of shame and lazily leaned back against the booth seat and rested his head on his clasped hands. His whole aura was giving off more relaxed vibes than Talla had ever seen him possess before.

Hunter could only roll his eyes, not wanting to have this argument again as the sniper never listened anyways, least of all when he had been drinking.

Wrecker eventually returned with a drink for each hand this time around, and he, Tech, Hunter and Talla chatted amongst themselves, for even after the unwinding effect of liquor Crosshair still wasn't much of a conversationalist. Talla was told various interesting things that had happened to them in their travels across the galaxy, and the craziest thing that Wrecker did when drunk. It was a tie between joining some Pyke Syndicate wannabe gang or selling the original Havoc Marauder to some bishwag for, ironically, a Coruscant Cooler after the bartender cut him off.

Hunter was right when he said that focusing on the tasks at hand helped keep them grounded, and that the spiked drinks made it easier. Talla focused on the friendly conversation and Wrecker, who after already having four drinks decided that he would be the one to initiate a shot contest with Crosshair, and to Hunter's chagrin invited the lightweight Clone Agent to join.

"Absolutely not." Hunter forbade sternly, for though she seemed fine now he didn't want to risk her losing her dignity again.

"Aw, c'mon Sarge!" Wrecker begged, words running together. "She can handle it!"

Surprisingly, Crosshair sided with Wrecker. "Just let her join, Hunter."

A suspicious brow was raised at him, but the youngest of the brothers managed to keep his features neutral so as not to reveal whether he was being uncharacteristically friendly due to the effects of the two strong drinks he had finished, or if he was trying to reel her in only to get her blasted and see if Talla would be just as hilarious drunk as she was when on an extreme caffeine/sugar high.

Whatever his intentions were, Talla perked up when Crosshair joined in on the invitation and she took the bait, her own take on the situation being that this meant he was finally accepting her into the group! "I'm in!"


PLEASE SKIP NEXT SCENE IF UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE SUBJECT OF ATTEMPTED DRUGGING FROM CREEPOS

Hunter protested again, but Wrecker shoved enough credits in her hand to get a bottle of good ol' Correllian Whiskey... at least, the cheaper knockoff... and the next thing Hunter knew she was clambering over him to complete her mission of supplying fun for the troops, not waiting for him to decide whether he'd politely get up to let her out. A sharp elbow might have jabbed his exposed neck, but she was too focused on wanting to fuel this hopefully newfound friendship with Crosshair to comprehend the resulting gag of pain from the unfortunate man at her unintentional strikes.

Zeroing in on the bar counter below, Talla made it there safely, the slight buzz from her light fruity beverage taking some of the edge off. Surprisingly she found an empty barstool and was quick to claim it, seeing that there were almost twice as many people as there were an hour ago, but pleased that it did not automatically send her into a downward spiral. Neel the bartender was running around like a mad man trying to fulfill everyone's orders as fast as he could, and Talla was wondering why he didn't have more help when the very same Togruta who had been so rudely dismissed by Hunter earlier, after expressing interest in the skull-faced man's enticing companion, now noticed the reappearance of attractive woman.

And she was alone. Without the rude skull-faced man.

Up close and personal now, he found himself still liking what he saw. Her outfit was modest compared to the other females who frequented the bar but it was definitely flattering and accentuated her defined curves nicely, and most of her lightly toned upper back was exposed through a large keyhole, revealing the unblemished, soft, warm ivory hued skin. She was in shape, but not grossly muscular, and appeared to be a natural beauty whose face didn't need to be caked with excessive makeup like others here did for a night out in the city, nor did she need to wear revealing clothes to tempt him. So, "You're a rare find in a place like this." Was his opening line with the aim to charm her.

The worldly stylist friends Talla had made warned her that a sleazy man or two would try and get her to notice them, but she should immediately rebuff their advances. This guy though, to the untrained eye, looked visibly harmless, his smile mellow and inviting even though his intense gaze was admittedly unsettling. Even so, a tight and close-lipped smile was his only response before Talla returned to the task at hand to keep herself anchored.

Neel noticed her a second later, breathlessly took her order and filed it away, three large orders from sizeable groups ahead of her measly one. He ran around the bar like a headless Porg trying to fill everyone's orders with semi-reasonable timings, cursing the droid server whose circuits just had to fry on the busiest night of the week.

The unquestionable rejection didn't work on the Togruta. He persisted in trying to break the ice with Talla, who he perceived as being anxious in this party ambience, which was a perfect angle to work with. "What's a beauty like you doing here tonight?"

The compliment ruffled her feathers, and she couldn't decide if it was for good or bad reasons, and a perturbed glance was thrown back at him as she shifted in her seat with the same uneasy feelings, losing focus of her goal. "I'm uh, here with my squad on our last night on Coruscant before we're deployed again." Talla answered politely. The only reason why she ignored Blair and Skylar's warnings to just send him on his way was because of the memory of how things were handled with the soldier back on Kamino, who had invaded her personal space bubble without her consent. She got into massive trouble as a result, so it wouldn't hurt to just be polite to this guy, right? He hadn't touched her without her consent as she had learned to be a major red flag - that was a good sign, right?

In truth, Talla was in no way able to think clearly, the small dose of alcohol barely taking the edge off, which was why she ordered another cooler.

"Ah, you're a soldier?" He asked conversationally. The interest would have sounded fake and hollow to more experienced ears though.

Tala made a noise of affirmation. "A clone soldier, actually."

This fact stupefied him. "You're a clone?"

"Yeah."

He stared at her blankly for a moment, then surprised her by chuckling as if she had just told the funniest joke in the history of jokes. "Right, and I'm the queen of Naboo."

Tala slowly shook her head and laughed herself, mostly out of nerves. "I'm - I'm not joking." The amusement was wiped from his face. "I'm a new type of clone that the Kaminoans created for the GAR, hence the reason I don't look like the billion others."

He was once again rendered speechless, then that amiable smile returned again. "You're definitely not like the other clones." This was another compliment, so she laughed nervously again, tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear bashfully as he reached into his leather jacket pocket and pulled out two strange sticks with glowing markings. He kept the orange one for himself, placing it between his lips, while benevolently holding the red one out to her in an offer to help herself.

The clear warning rang through her head: Don't take drinks from strangers. "No thank you."

His grin was inviting as he took out the glowing rod from his own mouth and urged her to take the other with the fake intent of helping her out for 'her' benefit, "Ah come on, I can see how tense you are!" He wiggled the red glowstick held out to her enticingly, "This'll relax you a lot faster than that weak excuse for a drink you ordered, and then you can actually enjoy the party! It's obviously your first one, and the first one should be memorable."

Hope bloomed inside her, since returning to the main area of the club started the symptoms of an impending sensory overload came right back full force. And even back at the quieter booth there was still a touch of hypervigilance present. The Clone Agent agreed with this man's attitude over her predicament, really wanting to enjoy her very first night out on the town ever, and he was kindly offering to share his secret on how to, noticing her discomfort in this hectic atmosphere. Blair and Skylar said nothing about taking kind help from strangers - THEY were, in fact, strangers who kindly offered to and did help her, and nothing bad had come from it.

The Togruta was beyond pleased when she accepted the rod with no inkling whatsoever that the red ones in his pack held the power to make her completely impressionable to do whatever he so desired. Yes, both colored rods were made with illicit substances, but the orange ones he kept for himself would only give him a slight buzz while she would lose all control of her faculties from the different concoction.

It required a small demonstration on how to use it since Talla never came across a creation like this and he was vague on his answers as to what it exactly was, calmly telling her it had the same relaxing qualities as alcohol except it would work much faster, especially since this was her first one.

She embarrassingly thought at first it was something she ate like a piece of candy. No, one end was lit and then the side that was not smoldering she would hold to her lips between her index and middle fingers as she took in short drafts at first so that it would prevent a bout of nausea, then let the smoke cool down in her mouth so it wouldn't irritate her throat as it was next allowed to be inhaled into her lungs, then she simply released the used smoke through her mouth again several seconds later after the relaxant was swiftly absorbed into her system. 'The key to your tranquility', he said, 'is just in this itty-bitty little thing you smoke, and it within minutes after the first drafts it starts giving you feelings of nothing but pure bliss', He winked, entrapping Talla being the easiest task he'd ever done, 'You'll find it much more effective than having three or four drinks over the course of several hours.'

He had considerately prepared it for her and when she hesitated, took the first few puffs himself to make sure it was lit properly, knowing such a micro taste to an experienced user like him would have little to no strength over him. Talla didn't know that something as repulsive as smoke could actually bear an intoxicating scent she was instantly drawn to like a moth to a bright light. It smelled like something sweet, and sweets hadn't let her down yet, which is what made her bravely take that first small puff of the promising substance after another gentle verbal nudge from the kind man who called himself Rhyden.

The aromatic smoke was promising, giving her feel-good vibes already, and she had such high hopes for its soothing qualities guaranteed by this generous patron, but like with the caf the scent was misleading, as the experience with the substance itself was beyond revolting.

A short coughing fit was followed by a strangle-toned relay of her experience, "Oh wow um -" She held the side of her free hand up to her lips, wanting to subdue the nausea that came even though she followed his instructions perfectly, "That was definitely something..." Her eyes now looked detestably upon the smoldering stick perched between her digits, the sweet scent no longer wonderful now that she knew how the smoke actually felt like being inhaled, "Something that's just plain awful."

Rhyden implored her to give it a few tries before making a final decision to continue or not, knowing a few good drafts would inevitably hook her a few minutes later when the drug kicked in and she'd give into the euphoria.

And unaware of his true intentions Talla did want to like it, she really did, to avoid rudeness at his fake generosity, but the three minuscule puffs she could only bear to take were more and more nasty each passing time, and by the third one she was feeling quite woozy either due to the substance he claimed would calm her or because of the smoke she was breathing in.

Now that she thought about it, it was an ironic concept considering she always had to make her helmet filters were up to standards so she wouldn't inhale the deadly toxins smoke came with, and without a second thought she discarded the stick on a little tray laying on the counter with a shudder, "I'm sorry, I can't accept your help, Rhyden." Force, where is Neel with the drinks? She wanted to wash away the nasty taste in her mouth! "It's just too disgusting, and frankly I don't feel any more relaxed than I did before trying it."

Kriff, I was so close. Rhyden's gentleness now turned into slight aggression as he became desperate, not wanting to put forth all this effort only to receive nothing in the end, and hoped she had smoked enough to have a measure of disorientation along with the nativity characteristic she possessed. She seemed to have a headache, massaging her temples with a grimace, so perhaps she would still bow to the power of suggestion from a friendly stranger who was concerned about her well-being. His temporary quarters while planetside was located in the shifty inn through the dark alleyway at the side of the bar, if he could just convince her she should go rest someplace quiet...

And if she became feisty from suspicion at seeing the disreputable surroundings, it wouldn't be hard to overpower this creature who was half his size. The reputation of this place: they turned a blind eye to what happened as long as they got paid. He was just another guy bringing his drunk girlfriend who'd partied too hard back to their shared room.

Alas, Rhyden made the grave mistake of clamping his hand around her wrist, touching her without her consent, the very red flag Talla had been taught to recognize and flee from. "How about we go outside then? Get some fresh air?"

Talla wasn't as far gone as he believed, the alarm bells in her head giving a loud and clear signal that this wasn't okay, and there was something shifty about him that was plain as day now with fresh eyes after this outwardly innocent but realistically invasive act. The mirth in his eyes was gone now, replaced with a spark of sinister intentions, and his hand that had been so tender with its touches as it helped her was now like unbreakable binders locked around her wrist.

Thankfully, to her knowledge there wasn't a cuff out there that couldn't be broken by her enhanced strength, least of all a man's flimsy hold, and he was frustrated as Talla was able to effortlessly break free from the grip that no other woman he'd trapped had ever been able to do.

Talla was quick to haughtily cross her leg and shift so that her back was slightly turned towards him, tossing her hair over her shoulder with queen-like energy even though it made her dizziness worse, thinking that he would get the hard-to-miss hint that she didn't want his help anymore. Force, where are those stupid drinks?! Extremely agitated now that she didn't have a proper distraction or hopeless promises of instantaneous relief, Talla craved the second-best solution to ending her turmoil that was enhanced senses. If she gulped down fast enough, perhaps it wouldn't take hours for it to take effect.

Unfortunately, Rhyden was not going to give up a good time so easily. Because Talla was miserably trying to focus on not losing it, she was too distracted not to notice his movement toward her again and felt his rough hand travel down her bare back and she indignantly whipped around, but he beat her to speaking first. "How about I buy you a drink instead, hm?" He forcefully suggested with a lopsided grin that was now seen as a charming facade that was given away by his darkened eyes. "Since the smoking didn't tickle your fancy?"

"No thank you." She ground out.

"Come on, babe." He reached out his hand to flirtily brush a loose wisp of hair behind her ear, but she was hyperalert this time and caught his hand by the wrist before it made contact with her flushed cheeks.

"No. Means. No." Talla enunciated the simple concept, rage flowing through her like molten lava, and like a switch going off Rhyden's eyes went from dark with heinous desire to wide with unbridled fear when he heard the bones in his wrist begin to crunch from the inhuman pressure she was beginning to apply.

"L-let me go!" Rhyden begged to no avail, pain exploding in his wrist as her grip only tightened and trying to wriggle free only made it worse. He cried out, catching the attention of other patrons nearby, and to her luck, Neel had left the counter to go find that bottle of whiskey she had ordered for the team. Under normal circumstances she would have been kicked out like the other customers who caused a disturbance.

Talla continued to give him her best heated glare despite the haziness of her mind and considered snapping his wrist like a twig out of pure spite to teach him a lesson on manners, but a firm hand being placed on her shoulder caused her to turn around at lightning quick speed to fight off the next handsy, ill-mannered creep who dared lay a slimy finger on her, only to freeze her assault when it turned out to just her Sergeant, and the rest of the squad circled around to her defense soon after.

"Let him go, Talla." Hunter ordered, though he had a fierce glare of his own trained on Rhyden as he itched to unleash his own fury at the Togruta for his despicable intentions against the most innocent on their team, as did the rest of the boys. Including CROSSHAIR of all people!

Following orders like a good soldier she did release Rhyden, but only after one final unforgiving squeeze to give him a lovely, unforgettable parting gift - a one way ticket to the emergency clinic for his now pulverized wrist. Rhyden blubbered like a baby from the breath-sucking pain that didn't relent even after she released him, and he pathetically cradled his mangled wrist to his chest, all the cockiness he usually glowed with now sucked out of him by this freakishly strong woman he had stupidly crossed and the not one but four scary men she had come here with.

He nearly crapped his pants.

"I'll... just be going now." He ducked his head and timidly excused himself before flying from his stool to flee from this batch of crazies, but Wrecker latched onto the front of his shirt before he made his escape and hoisted him into the air with one hand so that they were face to face.

"You mess with Talla, you mess with me." He threatened in a frightening voice saved for such special occasions as dealing with bad people like him, still sober enough to understand what had almost happened.

Rhyden's laugh was nervous as he tried to defend himself to the bitter end. "Wh-who's messing with anyone? I certainly wasn't!"

Obvious to everyone by his frightened pitch, he lied like a rug now, and with an air of superiority Crosshair stepped up to the flailing male, the blade he brought skillfully dancing across his lithe fingers that never failed him when it came to flinging a weapon at a target with pinpoint accuracy. "I'd apologize to Special Agent Talla if I were you." He requested nicely, his actions telling the bastard that even if he managed to escape Wrecker's grasp (unlikely) Crosshair could still teach him a lesson from afar.

Frantically Rhyden's attention was snapped back to the alleged soldier, either way the stupidest mistake of his life he now saw. "I'm sorry if I was out of line, Agent!"

"IF?" Tech barked while Wrecker tightened his hold around his shirt with enough force that it started to choke the perp. Tech was now sporting a similar state of ferocity pulsing through his veins after he noticed the smoldering death stick she had been coerced into using lying on the discard tray. He avoided confrontation like the plague, but sometimes it was justly required, especially if someone he cared about being mistreated by an outsider to this degree. He'd play mediator at first to get everyone to calm down. In this instance, that was all thrown out the window he was close to taking the blade from Crosshair's hand and carving up Rhyden's despicable face himself.

"WAS!" Rhydean choked out, "I WAS of line, and I'm sorry!"

Hunter glared at him for a moment longer to make a point before a sharp motion with his head signaled Wrecker to release the piece of rakeweed, and after being shamelessly dumped to the ground, the coward scrambled to his feet and made a beeline towards the exit.

To the Bad Batch's bafflement everyone who had witnessed the honorable scuffle, regs and other species alike began thunderously applauding at their heroics! Some even giving a few whoops and hollers, and others shoved, taunted, or tossed their half-full bottles/glasses at Rhyden as he scurried out of the establishment, a path of shattered glass and splattered liquid in his wake.

"You okay, Talla?" Wrecker decided to step around her stool and ask since Hunter was still glaring at where the male went amongst the commotion, but he then transferred his attention onto said team member, also hoping she was alright, before a whiff of something foul made him crinkle his nose.

After letting out a sharp breath of relief now that the creep was gone, Talla smiled grimly up at Wrecker in appreciation. "Yeah -"

"Were you smoking?!" Hunter demanded in horror.

Talla frowned deeply at his rigid tone that was saved exclusively for her, she judged. Then a nonchalant shrug followed, and she said as if it was no big deal, not seeing it actually was. "He offered me something to smoke, saying it would help me relax."

"Hunter." By his own serious tone, Tech breathlessly received his older brother's rapt attention as the brainy clone showed him the stick with the glow starting to dwindle, but nonetheless identifiable.

Hunter almost went into cardiac arrest." He gave you a death stick?!"

Talla's already thumping heart rhythm suffered an even more distressful spike at this reveal of the disgusting things' name, an item she had been strictly cautioned to not partake of. "A death stick?!"

Crosshair would have followed Hunter into the Great Beyond two beats later. "And you smoked it?! Have you gone spacesick?!"

She stammered for a bit before a clear explanation was declared, her mind reeling from everything that had and was currently still happening tonight, her nerves torn to shreds, "He said it would just give me the same serenity as alcohol, only faster! I thought it was a palliative remedy of some sort - I had no idea that it was a death stick - I had no idea that's what they looked like!"

Force help us, the sniper face-palmed, and his exasperated words were muffled behind his palm as he dragged it down his face in utter disbelief at discovering a new depth to her naivety, "The description is literally in the name, Talla."

"Yeah, but in my head I, I don't know, imagined tiny skull and crossbones on it somewhere to show it was... bad." The reasoning sounded pathetic now that it was voiced, but it was the truth... and she had been thoroughly stupid.

Tech steered the conversation away from her lack of life experience, "It does not appear that you inhaled the full dose -"

"Thank the force." Wrecker breathed in relief at the near miss.

The fact that Wrecker, who always acted like he didn't have a care in the world, was actually wearing a solemn expression on his face even after guzzling down enough alcohol to kill a bantha, this showed her that this was one of those life-or-death matters, and the wind was knocked out of her lungs, "What would have happened if I did take the full dose of this death stick?" She suspected the one Rhyden had given her wouldn't have just sent her into a state of pure bliss, that it was of the drugs the girls had warned her about. Date-rape drugs. But she needed it to be confirmed.

"Erm." Tech shared a hesitant glance with his brothers, uncomfortable elaborating further, but his need to spew forth knowledge others did not possess forced him to, "Most of the time death sticks are used recreationally and give the user a twisted version of reality enhanced by bright colors, but there are other varieties of these illicit substances that have vastly different outcomes and I suspect this particular one would have simply caused loss of your inhibitions so he could easily lead you to a secluded place where he would have -" Be tactful in your phrasing, Hunter's sharp sideways glance commanded him, "- um... had his way with you."

"Which is precisely why you don't take anything you can ingest from people you don't know." Crosshair growled irately as she was stunned into silence for a moment, "You're a grown woman Talla, and this is basic Stranger Danger knowledge!"

Being reprimanded like she was a child, it irritated her even though it was deserved, and made her explosive tendencies flare as it raised her self-loathing intensity by quantum leaps and made her snarky out of defense, "Oh forgive me, my Master, for not knowing the ways of the galaxy by now and connecting the navpoints sooner A WHOLE WEEK after being released of my sheltered life -" A finger was shoved towards his face and he recoiled lest he lose an eye, "Most of which was spent confined in a hospital by the way!"

Any further chiding from the sniper was silenced as a large whiskey bottle was slammed down onto the counter next to them, the bartenders timing with their order a life saver, and he left without any indication that he knew what had happened five minutes ago, and without the other half of the order.

So they were off the hook, and Talla was without her liquid sanity.

(END OF TRIGGERING SCENE)


Hunter held to his promise of doing better by Talla and dismissed the others, telling them to take the bottle and go have their fun, the underlying meaning behind his suggestion though being 'Let me handle this.'

Elbows propped up on the counter, Talla's spacey-feeling head fell into her suspended hands once they were out of earshot, guilt being the next emotion welling up within her. She had ruined the fun night by her stupid stupidness. "Well, hasn't this turned out to be a fun night?" She spat.

Being encouraging requires gentleness. Massaging the back of his neck in anticipation, hoping and praying he wouldn't mess this up any more than it already was, Hunter found his place on the vacated seat next to her and tilted his head slightly to try and catch her gaze, "How ya feeling?" He figured should be the first question, and it was able to be softly said as a slow, melodious beat had started to play on the dancefloor.

She avoided his inquisitiveness by refusing to tear her gaze away from a very interesting mark on the counter, but couldn't hide the scathing element in her response for his dumb question, "'How am I feeling?' Are you blind or something, isn't it obvious I feel like hell?"

Such a biting remark should have been expected from the woman's exposure to Crosshair, and yet, Hunter still found himself surprised as her new dramatic look actually reflected her emerging fiery personality and not the other way around, "I'm looking for specific symptoms here." He chuckled awkwardly, not taking offense since she was upset and it was just wild talk. He was growing to believe she didn't have a malicious bone in her body.

Her shoulders slumped as she saw her mistake, confirming this theory. "Oh. Sorry." His concern was rewarded with this apology and her doing a quick mental body scan now that she knew what his question really meant, and Talla finally looking sadly into his worried eyes, "I'm a little woozy, I guess, but I think it's from the mental breakdown I'm trying to fight - no biggie." She jested.

"That's a relief," Her eyebrows snapped together, offended by his callous comment. "Not that you're overwhelmed! But that you're not high -" She muttered a depressed 'oh' at this clarification and her eyes once again left him and traveled to her folded arms on the counter. The liquid courage he had two bottles of prompted him to bravely tackle this whole 'attentive' thing and gently press further, "Anything else?"

After a bout of short silence, a long sigh was heaved before she admitted what was really bothering her, "Is loathing my very existence a symptom?"

"Of self-esteem issues." That I've partially caused, He resentfully reminded himself, "Want to tell me what's running through that head of yours?" This was something 99 would ask him and his brothers when they were upset, and he was surprised it had come from his mouth, but this question was actually more effective than trying to guess and put words into the suffering party's mouth.

Maybe I should get people lessons from 99. Hunter decided, because he was definitely not prepared to see Talla's eyes become misty as she spilled her guts out to his panic-stricken self, "I look like a grown woman, I talk like a grown woman, but in reality, I'm nothing more than an ignorant child -" She barked a low laugh with no mirth, "No, a brainless meat droid who doesn't know a thing about how the real-world works."

It took him a moment to find some sort of comforting sentence, "It's only been a week." Nope, that sounded feeble. He winced silently as it only made her more unhinged.

"Yeah, but everywhere I turn I'm reminded of how inexperienced I am and - UGH, you wouldn't understand!" She declared with a pout.

Talla was not expecting him to be able to work with this declaration out of all the other things she had stated. "Wanna bet?" His voice was laden with hilarity, and this baffled her. What could possibly be funny about this night of disappointment? "Picture this, Talla: Four shiny's fresh out of Kamino shortly after the Battle of Geonosis -"

This stellar opener and his almost animated features hooked the Agent. She dabbed the corners of her watering eyes with her finger so the mascara and eyeliner wouldn't smear and gave her full attention to the picture being painted.

"Us inexperienced batch of clones are waiting for our very first assignment here in the great capital city of Coruscant, the war not widespread enough to have immediate deployment, and we check out this place that had advertised on the HoloNet they catered to the troops of the Republic."

"79's." Talla filled in flatly.

"Yes."

"Great story."

Hunter scoffed. "I'm just getting started."

So she lazily leaned her head against her hand again, but was twisted sideways on her stool to face the stick in the mud who turned out to be a fascinating storyteller as the tale progressed.

His unusual dash of liveliness was fueled by his mild intoxication, and unbeknownst to Talla the need to see her at least crack a smile, signaling that her spirits had been lifted and her evening saved, and was thankful for the quieter tunes playing so she could have a brief moment of solace from the irritated enhanced senses, "Psyched at the prospect of trying real, flavorful food after the bland grub served at the mess hall in Tipoca, us deprived souls kind of went nuts after that first glorious bite and ordered any and every type of food and beverage on the menu that sounded tasty."

Oh.

"For hours we ate and drank until our hearts were content, and then even more shoveled down on top of that until we were completely blue in the face." A carefree shrug, "Not a problem, we could just go back to the Marauder and sleep this off, right?" She quirked an intrigued brow, egging him on, and he mimicked his brother's tendency to raise a finger as he went on a long rant, "Wrong. We had no idea you had to pay money for whatever food and drinks you consumed in establishments like this."

Tala froze. OH.

He sensed her realization at the demeaning part of the memory coming up and nodded to confirm her fears. "Yeah. As we staggered towards the exit the bartender flagged us down, and he angrily demanded the hoard of creds I refuse to specify the number of that was the payment for our extravagant five course meals, half consisting of cheap foods and beverages and the other half some of their most expensive brands and exotic imported foods."

Talla had to hide a smile behind her hand, trying to pass it off as checking to make sure her lipstick wasn't rubbing off, knowing it was hypocritical to laugh considering what she had put them through tonight.

"Well, when we revealed our measly clone allowance, we were taken by the scruffs of our necks, forced to hunch over a sink, and scrubbed dirty dishes until we received our first assignment two days later to pay off part of the tab that Tech labeled as 'extortion' since that hard labor wasn't deemed enough. We had to repeat this process the next four times we were in town to make up the rest. This visit is actually the only one where we haven't had to scrub dishes because we finally did pay off the deluxe-sized tab last time we came to town on our fifth visit."

It was useless to try and hide the smile, her shoulders shaking from suppressed laughter giving her away, and after releasing her mouth from its prison her voice was overflowing with the feeling of mirth, and he silently patted himself on the back, "You didn't notice the prices clearly displayed on the menu?!"

He gave an exaggerated huff of annoyance, but to this day the sentiment was still very much real, "Tech did, and when asked why he didn't say anything he went -"

"'I thought it was obvious.'" They recited together.

"And that, Talla, is the story of how we came to know Neel. He grew to understand our innocence after a few months of dealing with thousands of other clone troopers, but the moral of the story is that no one will understand what you're going through more than us. I know it doesn't feel like it, but you're pretty lucky."

The spark left her eyes as she muttered darkly, "How'd you plot that course?" None of what had happened to her felt lucky.

"You have willing champions in at least three of us who are more than happy to help you figure out all this 'real-world' stuff... Tech and Wrecker are better at it though," He admitted while his hand anxiously found its way to the back of his neck again, "I'm still trying to figure out how to adjust to these new circumstances, if I'm being totally honest." Why was he being so honest? He'd never admitted his weaknesses to his subordinates before. He changed the subject to save face. "If you want, we can leave." Hunter suggested courteously. "I understand if you don't want to stay," He grimaced as the music volume was turned up to a thousand again and the amplified base caused everything to quake, "And I think I've had my fill of partying for the next ten years."

His discomfort was worth it though when Hunter came face to face with a brightly smiling Talla anew. "Thank you for your consideration, but I've been inspired by your speech to not feel sorry for myself or let one ill-mannered guy spoil all the fun!"

He was getting the hang of this 'attentive' thing. And the reward of Talla being happy was the best one he had ever received.