Chapter Five
The party was in full swing by the time they arrived much to Raven's irritation. They'd gotten slightly – lost – with Carth then refusing to le her ask for directions. Eventually though they had made it to the beat thumping studio apartment in the north quarter. Taking one last chance to prepare herself she turned to face the door while speaking to Carth.
"Please remember that we're supposed to be traders. No military backbone or stiff-necked pride when we get inside ok?"
She hit the door pad sending an annoying ring through to the apartment, moments later the door shot open to reveal the already inebriated host.
"Hey I didn't think you wuz gonna make it. This is your cousin?"
"Yeah, this is…Tark – Tark this is Yun."
"Nice to meet you"
Carth mumbled below his breath.
"Come in, come in. party is really swinging now. Some one delivered Tarisian ale to the wrong address. No problem though just another advantage of being a Sith."
Yun proceeded to weave his way through the room, Raven and Carth following behind. He introduced them to a few people al a little worse for wear thanks to the ale.
"Hey can I get you anything to drink?"
Yun slurred as he eyed Raven's chest. Shaking off her annoyance she requested an ale waiting for him to move off before turning to face Carth.
"This shouldn't even take as long as I thought, the whole lot are already wasted."
Carth smirked, that cocky grin of his and she felt something odd flutter in her chest before she pushed it away.
"The less time we have to spend here the better."
"Urm…Tark I hate to say this but I think your about to get set on by a pack of Kath hounds."
"What?"
No sooner had he spoken then a group of no less then five female Sith accosted him dragging him off to dance. She could only smile in sympathy at the panic filled look on his face. Not long afterwards an unwanted arm was thrown around her shoulder.
"Here you go, hon. One Tarisian ale."
She gritted her teeth through the smile she managed to throw him as she accepted the drink, at the same time managing to shrug off his unwelcome embrace. Taking a long drink of her ale she suppressed a sigh. The things she did for her Republic.
Less then an hour later the music was still pumping but the occupants of the room where totally K.O'ed, all but two that is. One was trying desperately wipe off layers of lipstick from his face and neck, the other meanwhile was trying valiantly to wiggle out from the heavy body of Yun - without waking him.
"Could you stop preening and give me a hand before I wake him up?"
Raven's voice sounded irritated and Carth couldn't hide the smile her situation prompted.
"Sure beautiful, anything I can do."
He quickly shifted the dead weight from Raven, setting her free.
"Do you have to call me that? I've had about enough of nicknames and being groped as I can handle for this life time."
"Hey I was just trying to lighten the mood"
"Well how about we grab what we came for and leave, that would sure as frack lighten my mood" she mumbled beneath her breath already moving to find what she they needed.
"Sure thing, gorgeous"
He said as he moved towards the pile of backpacks in the corner, searching through them until he found what he was looking for, as Raven did the same.
"What, your not going to object to that as well?"
"Right now I could use all the complements I can get. I need to get out of here and take a long hot shower, with plenty of soap involved – I feel dirty"
The last was said softly and it struck Carth that she had hated being touched by these Sith. He'd momentarily forgotten her aversion to physical contact, mainly because she had begun to accept his touch without flinching. Standing he slipped his backpack over his shoulder, waiting while Raven did the same.
"Thanks"
He murmured as they made their way out of the apartment and headed towards the elevator that would take then back to street level.
"For what?"
She asked as the elevator door slid shut.
"For doing this, even though you didn't want to, for pitching in and getting it done"
She looked at him then, starring deeply into his eyes making him feel uncomfortable, as though she could see inside his head. Suddenly the serious expression on her face dissolved, leaving behind that dawn smile that never failed to catch him unawares.
"Thanks, flyboy"
He chuckled to himself at her own nickname for him as they stepped off the elevator into the Tarisian night.
"You seriously owe me a drink after all this is finished."
The words where gritted out between teeth clenched against pain and annoyance.
"This is the fifth time that these damn Vulkars have attacked us. It's a good job we're in such a hurry because I have a serious urge to teach these guy's a lesson"
The ranting continued as more Vulkars poured from the nearby apartments. Carth could only grin, how she managed to keep up the never-ending tirade of remarks and insults, while simultaneously beating the snot out of these thugs he's never know.
They'd spent an uneasy night apart as usual, Carth having decided to get some rest after she'd announced that she was heading over to the cantina to play Pazaak. He had to admit that she seemed to be pretty good at the game, judging by the stack of credits she'd shown him this morning.
They'd headed off near 0800 to make their way down into the lower city of Taris dressed in their stolen uniforms. Luckily no one checked up on their story and they had made it down safe. That had been almost three hours ago and he was hot and sweating with the constant battling with these damn Vulkars.
He took careful aim down the sight of his blaster before firing at the twi'lek stood not three feet from Raven, sword raised to attach her exposed back. Even as his blaster bolt seared clean into the guy's chest he saw the metallic sheen of raven's double-bladed sword being pulled free of his gut. As the last thug went down he took a relieved sigh.
"Finally – you'd think they where targeting is on purpose."
He spoke while wiping the sweat stinging his eyes with the back if his back sleeve. Raven stood in her modified Echani armour she'd picked up from Kelba Yurt the night before, the blue material like armour was light but incredibly strong conforming to every single one of her curves. Carth had to gulp to suppress his feelings while leaning heavily against the wall for support as he caught his breath.
"I know what you mean. I'm almost tempted to head back up to the apartment to take another shower – well almost"
Her voice was teasing as she watched him regain his composure. Her smile was brief but mischievous and he fought to suppress a groan.
"We might as well take advantage of all these – vacated – apartments, rest a little before we move on."
"Good idea gorgeous, I could use with a drink."
He followed her into the nearby apartment watching as she unzipped the jacket part of the armour she wore to reveal a plain white chemise. It clung to her stomach, or at last it did when she wasn't moving, or stretching, or standing…Ok Onasi get a grip.
He purposely turned his attention away as she headed towards the nearby sink. The corner of his eye caught sight of the intricately designed tattoo that sat to the left of her belly button. It was mostly hidden as it dipped below the waist band of her pants. It wasn't the first tattoo he'd noticed Raven having; she had another of similar design at the join of her collarbones. They where vaguely familiar reminding him of something that was just beyond his reach.
"Here"
She said handing him the filled glass of water, while taking a deep drink of her own. She'd splashed water on her face and it clung gently to the black eye lashes surrounding her eyes.
"We should probably head towards the cantina. See who we need to speak to about getting us down into the under city. I sure as hell don't want to carry these uniforms much longer."
She said voicing his own immediate desire as well
"I have a feeling that we're going to end up speaking with this Hidden Beks, judging by our reception they'll most likely be our only option.