(D5, EE The Cave) Doomed to Distraction

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

(reposting the description since it's otherwise floating back in D1)

There are plenty of respectable places in the Ally. The Cave is more like...seedy on the edge of attempting respectability. You'll get yelled at if you spit on the floor, but brawling is common enough that someone will almost certainly yell at you to take it on stage so everyone can enjoy the free show and you quit messing up the furniture that looks like it's been patched together at least three times already.

The lighting is dim, unless you're on stage. The drinks are decent and no more watered than any other joint in the Alley, while the food is exactly as full of salt and grease as you'd expect. There's a nod to the name, with rounded seats, some of them soft sacks stuffed with who knows what, but most are made of some sort of reclaimed wood or plastic. And the tables all appear to be irregular rounds, slices of the same tree, dyed so the growth rings give the appearance of agate in a variety of shades.

The stage is the main draw though, pulling in various performers, mostly local, but occasionally newcomers show up. On any given night you can see everything from kiddo's first magic trick in a box to the Belli Boys...a local band that's been playing together for the past 3 decades. They even got some kind of deal and toured offworld 20 years back or so, but ended up right back on Bellionas.

**********************************

Dhel isn't scheduled till later in the night, and hasn't started to pick up on the news that Petra's been missing, so she's taking the chance to watch a few of the early evening folks on stage, snack on something, and drop a sack of cookies backstage for folks coming off their gigs there.

She hasn't bothered to change since her time at Sinclair's, since the elegant-looking deep purple dress is just fine for the stage. But she's being more careful than usual not to snag the cheap fabric or drop anything on it that would stain.

[Varina Ordo]

Varina never perfectly fit into seedy places like this. Even if she was surly, her face betrayed her youth. And today, she wore a permanent scowl.

She moved around the place, never ordering anything herself. Instead, she was the perfect forager, picking at things left behind or unattended.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel spots the teenager, and quirks an eyebrow, watching her pick her way through the place like a feral cat. She scoots the paper sack with a few remaining cookies a bit to the side, before turning to chat with the barkeeper. She darts her eyes to the side, toward the cookies, and lifts a finger briefly to her lips in a 'shh' motion as they chat about the effect of the curfew on the Cave's business.

[Varina Ordo]

The bait was set and Varina didn't really care if she was thrown out or anything. Eventually, she made her way over to the sack, poking away at her comlink. Once she was close enough, she elbowed it over and peeked inside for the prize inside. These cookies, well, there was no way for her to know that they were there for a specific purpose. And the sack looked like it'd perfectly fit into her jacket, so...

She glanced around and, if/when she felt nobody was looking, definitely stashed the sack of cookies.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Large Bothan ears catch the crinkle of paper, and she glances over with a toothy smile. "Hey, kid." She doesn't look at the empty counter. "Act after this one's probably more your speed. Corellian Raiders cover band with a great lead singer."

"If you're thinking of sticking around to eat those at least. They wash down well with milk or caf." the smile widens into an amused grin.

[Varina Ordo]

The mention of the word "Raiders" struck a nerve. Varina's brow creased but she kept her mouth shut about how that word was stupid. "I'm not here for the music," she said with a shrug.

One of her hands ran over the bag in her pocket. "I'm not going to order either of those, if that's what you're hoping for."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

"More a suggestion." Dhel considers the credits she's come into of late and sighs. It feels very strange to be saying, "but if you want either, I'll buy one."

[Varina Ordo]

Varina definitely had the credits. However, she was already taking scraps for the heck of it. "I'll take it," she said, totally shameless. "But they don't just give it to you for free since you work here?"

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel nods to the barkeep. "I get some drinks during my set, not otherwise. If there's a decent crowed, I'm more likely to get a meal on the house." She picks up her beer. "this one I paid for."

"And that's me. You don't get free drinks for my performance," she grins. "Speaking of which...what'll it be?"

"And you're with the new folks who've been around these past few weeks, yeah?"

[Varina Ordo]

"Sounds like cheapos run this place, the type that don't really get the loyalty of their followers," Varina said, not caring who heard her about that. "Milk is kind of weird and so is caf. The former is like..." Drinking from a mom. Gross. And caf, also a thing of moms.

"I guess I am new around these parts, yeah. I still haven't perfectly blended into society here.'

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel laughs at that a bit. "No, no you haven't. But drink what you like then."

"Are you planning to stick around? Doesn't seem like most of this new crowd are. Not quite tourists, but not settling in either.

[Varina Ordo]

"I don't know, I usually just have some sort of ale. Water I can get anywhere." And that wasn't necessarily off the tap at a restaurant. At least, with them knowing it.

"Why should I stick around on this dump? Might as well go back home, or something." Grandstanding aside, she knew she had to see the whole "husband getting stabbed by some jerk" for Raven's sake.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel holds up her own bottle. "Local beer?"

This wasn't nearly her usual conversation at the Cave. For one thing, she wasn't about to hit on this kid. Or...then again, a good tumble might take some of that chip off her shoulder. But there's a show to put on in an hour...

"No idea if there's any reason to stay, just curious if you were. Where's home? Been traveling much to get here?" She sips her drink and adds, "see...I might have reason to decide if I'm actually staying, and I could use some data to make that decision with.

[Varina Ordo]

"Eh, I don't care if it's local or not." Varina wasn't exactly a snob when it came to eating things. Calories were calories and she still had much room to grow.

Seemed like fur wasn't exactly on Varina's mind for a good lay. Her deliberations on sexuality had fallen to the wayside as of late due to the whole "punching her mom" thing. "I'm from Mandalore. Not much better than this place, to be honest. Most of the planet has been destroyed due to, well, what we do."

She smirked. "Don't think you'd fit in there."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Her nose wrinkles."No offense, but no. Mandalorians have kind of a violent reputation. I'm not particularly into that." She reaches in the air tracing a little check mark with her finger. "well...scratch off one possible destination. What brought you here?"

[Varina Ordo]

"You didn't look like the sort," she said with a smirk. "That's meant to be a compliment, by the way. My kind... they're not really the best company unless you need someone to cover your back."

Varina glanced around then back at the lady. She surely wasn't some sort of spy...

"Personal business. Family and friends, in particular. It's real complicated..."