The Start of Something New (OPEN)

[Inara Milakovich]

Coruscant may be the crown jewel of the Republics inner rim, but it is no stranger to the Zeltron Mercenary. Here, like with the rest of the galaxy, crime still abounds. It's just gotten rather good at staying out of sight here. Seedy cantinas filled with smoke and dancing Twi'Lek's still exist, it's just a matter of knowing where to look... And Inara knew just where to look.
After all, these places are no stranger to her.

The dark haired alien sat in a darkened corner, simply watching the other patrons with the most alcoholic beverage she could order in her hand. With two livers, the concoction she was sipping was probably one of the few things that could make her feel buzzed quickly. At times she almost envied other humanoids and their single liver design. Getting buzzed must be so easy for them, she would often muse.
The very smell of her drink of choice would probably cause most of them to pass out.

Inara smirked slightly, surveying the cantina with a violet stare. People watching is perhaps a poor choice of words for what the Scarlet Widow was actually doing. Absorbing the room would be closer to the truth. With her telepathic and empathetic abilities, she could literally feel the mood of the room. If she focused in on an individual, the sensations would become more intense. A man sat at the bar, grieving over his lost job. A group of jawas sat at a table across from her, celebrating their latest con sale. A pair of twin blue Twi'Leks were performing in the corner for the rather disinterested crowd.
Actually, it was these twi'leks that held Inara's attention the most. They were spry, flexible, and actually seemed to be enjoying their work.

Actually they reminded Inara of herself when she was a few years younger. Right after she had been banished from her homeworld. She swirled her noxious drink in one hand before sipping from it with a mild smile growing on her face. Perhaps she could coax them into having a little fun this evening?
After all... the night is young, life is short, and they are beautiful.

[Mira Phrix]

"What was that?"

"Sir? What was what?"

"Listen. There it is again. Can't you hear it?"

"Wait, yes I ca-"

"What? I didn't hear you. Kelvos? Ke- by all that's holy, Kelvos, what the hell! Dear god, he's dead! GUARD, GUA- ARGHH!"

------------

Mira sighed.

Today could have gone so, so much better. Granted, it could have been worse, but that was well beside the point. The targets had been dealt with, but she hadn't moved fast enough to prevent one of them from shouting out to the guard, which had resulted in a less than optimal escape than the one she had planned ahead. Instead of simply sneaking out the way she had come, out the back door and through the alleyway, the assassin had been forced to take a flying leap out the third floor window of her targets' home. Luckily enough for her, the neighboring building was close enough to the others on the street that landing on the roof of the next door house hadn't been too much trouble, but the sheer fact that she had to make the jump in the first place was irritating. She should have moved much quicker, much smoother. Stupid, stupid mistake. Father would have been disappointed.

Then again, maybe he wouldn't have. Mira smiled. Her father wouldn't have been disappointed. He would have been supportive. He would have congratulated her on her ability to adapt to the changing circumstances, and would have simply told her that she needed to just be prepared for next time. He had always been so forgiving, her father. He would have rated this a good, successful contract, regardless of the difficulties she had faced. And after that, he would have had her go on her way, to go out and celebrate. Mira grinned. That was exactly what she would go do.

Licking the last of the blood away from the murder weapon with a giggle, Mira sheathed the blade at her side, before dropping off the side of the building and into the ally of the Underlevels. There was some fun to be had.

------------

Mira had to say, she was rather pleased with how the day before had turned out. Despite its rather rocky start, she'd successfully managed to enjoy herself completely. She'd spent several hours in a tavern, drank a bit, flirted a lot, beat several guys at cards, and pretty much had one of the better nights of recent times. One thing in particular that she had to say she was quite happy with, was what she had managed to acquire before she left the cantina. Mira smiled, glancing at the human male who lay next to her on the bed. This gentleman had been nice enough to buy her several drinks, and take her back to his home. Even better, he was quite the handsome fellow. A pity she had to leave.

Having pushed off the blankets and rolled out of bed, Mira set about gathering her clothes from the floor. Once she was fully dressed, the assassin skipped over to the man's side of the bed. "Thanks for having me, lover," she said, before giggling and kissing the man on the forehead. "Oh, and by the way." Here she smiled, and pointed at the man's neck, where a long, bloody gash was clearly visible. "You should get that checked out. I think I might have bit a little too hard. Well, that, or that's from the knife. But who can really be sure?" Laughing, she turned away from the body, and skipped over to the door. “Now, let's see if you have anything else worth taking in here, shall we?”

------------

Another day, another cantina.

Realistically, Mira needed to actually arrange passage off-world, and stop her stalling. One of her many contacts had alerted her to several potential job offers originating from the Outer Rim, for people of her particular skill set. Her career’s longevity depended on her being constantly in the field, performing various contracts and cashing in bounties. This being said, however, Mira hadn’t had much time to spend as she pleased, recently. The past few weeks had been a flurry of job after job, kill after kill, and despite being on Coruscant for nearly a month she had yet to actually enjoy the nightlife aside from the day before. And that was something which she just couldn’t abide by. She needed a few days to just relax.

And so it was that she found herself in another of the multitude of cantinas and clubs that covered the world. It was a seedy little joint, catering to those who knew how to have a good time without having to fake it like stupid upper-dwellers. Here, one could find all the drinks, men, women, and anything else that they needed to find. The kind of place that someone like her tended to thrive in. Needless to say, Mira was planning on having a blast here tonight.

Upon entering, Mira glanced around the place in an attempt to take everything in. Being a Miraluka, and gifted with the ability to see her surroundings through the Force (the only good thing to ever come from that blasted source of hokey religions), it was rather easy for her to gain a good idea at what everyone in the bar was like. The auras of those around her pulsed with energies, both good or bad, their Force signatures identifying just how corrupt each person was… and how likely it was they’d be to mess with her. For instance, one of the many men watching a pair of Twi’leks was closer to the Light, that extremely attractive Zeltron woman in the corner fell somewhere in a neutral area, whereas a man about to walk past her and out of the door was a complete and total asshole.

And had a rather poorly placed wallet which became much less full the moment he walked past the Miraluka.

Newly acquired credit chip in hand, Mira took a seat at one of the tables and flagged down one of the servers, someone who was no doubt surprised that a blind woman had even noticed her, let alone waved at her. ”Johrian Whiskey… in a clean glass. I’ll know if it’s not.” She smiled as the server walked off to get her drink. It seemed as if everyone was always trying to con the blind woman. Too bad for them that so few people realized at first glance that she wasn’t human. It would save everyone so much trouble.

[Inara Milakovich]

Just as Inara was about to go in for the attack, a new presence stopped her before she even rose from the table. A pretty, apparently blind woman strolled into the bar with an aura of emotion around her the likes of which the Zeltron hadn't encountered before. There was something about it that was so... genuine about her emotions. The humanoid didn't make any attempt to hide her chipper nature. This field of positive emotion attracted Inara like a moth would be to a flame. That, and the fact that she had so easily lifted the credit chip off of the rather disagreeable human who was on his way out.

Good riddance. Inara almost hoped that he would come back and cause a stink. She could use the target practice.

Of course, the Twi'leks were almost completely out of her mind at this point. It's not that she considered the Twi'leks no longer beautiful. In fact, she thought they were just smoking. The fact is, she was only acting this way in accordance to her genetic inheritance. Mira was the perfect storm of looks and emotion that the twenty-four year old just couldn't resist. The humanoid with the positive emotions had her full attention now as she moved through the smokey room without the need for so much as a stick to find the location of the items in the room. That spoke volumes, at least to the Zeltron, about the woman's 'disability'. Which is to say, the scarlet skinned alien didn't believe she had one.
Or if she did, blindness wasn't the problem.

A grin crossed her face as a brilliant, if not a little alcohol soaked, plan crossed her mind. In a smooth motion she picked up her glass and crossed the room, hips swaying in a suggestive and hypnotic manner with each and every step. When she came to the table she set her foaming drink down and spun a chair about so she would be sitting with her legs spread apart and her arms resting on the back of the chair. Inara cocked her head to one side, getting a good look at the young woman before speaking. Now convinced about her earlier assumptions, she kept her Cheshire grin as she spoke to the girl. "He will probably bring back a dirty glass and a watered down drink. Any chance to save a couple credits where they can... of course, who's really conning whom here?" She joked, switching effortlessly to her knowing smile. "What's a pretty Miraluka like you doing in a place like this?"

"I'm Inara Milakovich, by the way." introduced Inara, placing her right hand out to shake the pale girl's.

[Mira Phrix]

From her seat at the table, Mira noticed a slight shift in one of the patron's stances. Instead of seemingly studying the pair of Twi'leks shaking their asses for the cantina's patrons like she was a moment ago, the Zeltron woman in the corner seemed to turn her attention her way. For a moment, Mira wasn't entirely sure if she had seen what she thought she had, but years of being forced to utilize the Force to visualize the world around her had taught her to focus her sight all around her. The years of stalking prey had taught her how to notice when a pattern was broken.

This pattern was broken.

She kept her head facing forward, away from the Zeltron, trying her best to appear as unfocused on anything as possible. Mira had made enemies over the course of her career, and many of them, she didn't even know of. Usually, the only people who ever payed her mind were those she approached herself, or those who were too drunk to care. A blind girl was never really the first to be approached in a bar, mostly because that wasn't exactly a turn on in most cases. No, those who took an interest to her before she did anything of interest, usually had ulterior motives. But that wasn't the case here, she realized. The woman in question wasn't, after all, your average human. Zeltrons had that wonderful ability to read the emotions other beings, and Mira had been called out for being quite the emotional hub before.

This could actually be coincidence.

Mira shrugged, and returned her attention to the rest of the patrons in the bar. Zeltrons interested her, they always had. In fact, the one in the cantina was definitely a target in the little game she played, a candidate for the approach and the finish. But Mira had never been one to strike the first thing she saw. She liked options, and she liked making sure the route she took proved to be the most rewarding one. And with a number of other men and women in the bar, like those Twi'leks who she wouldn't mind leading away for a private party either, she wanted to make sure that reward didn't come from them.

And that's when the pattern broke again.

From the corner of the bar, the Zeltron stood in a fluid movement and took up her glass, and began to walk through the cantina, filled with purpose. At first, Mira disregarded the movement, but it didn't take long before she realized the Zeltron's eyes were burning into her skull. The movement of the woman's body hit her quite quickly after this realization, and it was quite hard for Mira to keep a straight face. This woman wasn't someone who wanted her dead, or if she did, it wasn't a quick and public death she had in mind.

Still, Mira wasn't used to being approached so quickly. She was slightly nervous.

The Zeltron woman stopped at her table, taking a chair and spinning it around before sitting down in front of Mira. A sudden feeling of familiarity hit her with the Zeltron's grin, something which the Miraluka knew full well was a side effect of the other person's race. All Zeltron seemed familiar, even if they'd never met you. It was just one of those interesting quirks that made them... them. When the other woman joked about the server trying to con her, her smile widened a little, and she turned her head to face towards the Zeltron's. She let a slightly confused expression cross her face along with the smile, just enough, as if to say 'I can't see you there.'

After a quick moment, the Zeltron's grin transitioned into a smaller, knowing smile, something which took Mira a moment to grasp. It was a slight but sudden change, something which said that the woman knew something. The words that followed the expression change confirmed this... and hit the assassin in the face like a grav-train. How in the hell did this woman just call her out on being a Miraluka?

"I- I- what?" Her carefully faked expression of confusion went from slight, to a completely true look of uncertainty. On one hand, there were only a small number of people in the galaxy who even knew what a Miraluka was, let alone what they looked like, and those people tended to belong to organizations that she had absolutely no desire to have know her location. On the other hand, this woman's Force signature showed no malice, no flares of hatred... and this woman had also outright called her pretty. Two things that didn't add up when dealing with the usually more neutral Jedi or the blatant disdain of rival bounty hunters.

"How did-" she began to ask, before she was cut off by the Zeltron, who introduced herself. Well this is... new. Not only had this woman just marched right up to her, called out her race like it was nothing, and complimented her, but she also had the decency to introduce herself before any advances were made on her. To say Mira was both confused and interested would be putting it mildly.

Looking down at the Zeltron's hand for a moment, completely throwing all attempts at concealing her nature out of the window. Mira took the offered hand and shook it, her confused look regaining some of its composure, and her customary smile began to creep back onto her face. "Mira. Mira Phrix."

[Inara Milakovich]

Inara just gave the Miraluka one of her charm a Haroot out of the bushes smiles as the girl processed what had just happened. The mercenary had felt the girl's unease as she approached, with fragments of thought filtering to the Zeltron. Mira may use the Force for her eyes, but she didn't appear to make any effort to shield her extraneous thoughts. Inara had at least heard how the woman was worried Inara would attack her... being that she had so many enemies. She didn't make much note of these thoughts, other than perhaps to avoid pressing a feeling of calm on her. She had gathered that not only was the Miraluka a little bit paranoid, but she was fully versed in the perks of Inara's heritage. This Miraluka must lead an interesting life, though that could probably be said of most of this Force-sensitive species. You don't exactly see them as often as other species... like humans.
You honestly can't go to any port in the known galaxy without tripping over a human.

Guess that's why what few Miraluka's are traveling the galaxy are hard to spot. They can so easily pass as a blind human.

Unless of course, you have a knack for picking up on details.

"Well Mira, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. " Inara replied, shaking the pretty girl's hand with the same level of confidence that she's maintained since Mira entered the cantina. Her eyes flicked to take note of the blade bound to the pale woman's wrist. This only piqued Inara's interest more. Obviously this girl wasn't one to be trifled with.
Inara's been known to flirt with danger on more than one occasion. Why should this be any different?

She couldn't help but draw the obvious connection when she heard the pale woman's name. Mira the Miraluka. Perhaps her parents had a sense of humor. Or maybe the females are all Mira and the males are Luka. At any rate, she could probably ask at another time.
It would probably appear rude at this junction.

"Sorry to intrude on you like this, but I just couldn't resist meeting you," The scarlet woman continued, eventually releasing the woman's hand. "As for how I know, I haven't heard of a blind human who had adapted so well to their disability to move through a cantina without problem." Here she smiled mysteriously and lowered her silky voice to a whisper, "I suppose Jedi is a possibility, but I've never heard of one without their lightsaber. Or one who also was an excellent pickpocket at that.

But, you never answered my question." She said, leaning back and returning to her normal pattern of speech. Inara took a sip of her lum, before restating, "What is a beautiful, and might I add well-armed, creature such as yourself doing in Coruscant's armpit?"

[Mira Phrix]

"The pleasure's mine, Inara."

Mira's expression of confusion had faded almost entirely now, replaced with the smile which rarely failed her. Though she was still extremely confused, she had long ago learned that to allow it to show for too long invited disaster, even when confronting those who seemed to be the least dangerous of all. Even though this Inara seemed like a truly pleasant individual, the assassin hadn't made it this far without making sure people didn't think she got surprised too easily. Those who thought that had the nasty habit of trying to exploit it, and she really, really got tired of cleaning up those particular bodies.

The assassin noticed that Inara's eyes had fallen on her wrist, and Mira realized she had seen the blade strapped to it, hidden under her jacket's sleeve. Having raised her hand to shake Inara's, it had become quite visible to her. What she found interesting, however, was the lack of a comment from the Zeltron. It wasn't often that someone walked about with a concealed blade in the sleeve of their clothing. Usually, only people who planned on using that blade did that, and it had a habit of eliciting comments. Inara however, gave none.

That was a nice change.

Listening to the Zeltron explain why she approached her, Mira couldn't keep from having her smile widen slightly. From the way she said she 'couldn't resist meeting her,' Mira figured she was simply putting on the charm, trying to get into Mira's good graces through subtle compliments. The blind woman didn't care though. The Zeltron could be trying to steal her wallet for all she cared; it was nice to be approached so quickly and so overtly, especially by someone who knew a thing or two about Miraluka.

She giggled a bit when Inara referenced her little bit of slight of hand when she had entered. "Oh, you saw that, huh?" Mira hadn't realized she'd been spotted by anyone, much less Inara. She'd assumed that everyone was far enough away, or too drunk, to notice. Hopefully, she thought, it was only her who had noticed then.

It was then Inara asked Mira her question again, the one the assassin had been too confused to answer the first time. This time, she tacked on the word 'beautiful' to her little description of Mira. This brought another smile to her lips. Inara was quite the charmer, wasn't she?

"Well, I might ask you the same, Inara." She giggled. "I suppose I'm here for the same reasons most people are here for. Drinks.. music... company." She smiled. "Also, places like these are always more exciting. Up-city clubs are so... boring, you know what I mean?" And wasn't that the truth. You couldn't find a fun time at some of those upscale locations even if you were the most easily amused being in the galaxy.