Real Talk (D7ME)

[Axel Ward]

There was talk of another mission soon. They had to be ready. For a lot of people, that would mean staying awake and alert.

For Axel, it didn't mean anything. Day or night, rain or shine, no matter the circumstances, he was ready to fight. And so what did it matter if he was here in the bar, having a casual drink, still dressed in his casual ship clothing.

Of course, he wasn't exactly having a drink. He sat at the bar, glass in hand, and bottle close. But he wasn't drinking. Instead he frowned at the dark liquid, his expression almost thoughtful.

[Riza]

"It won't fill itself if you just glower at it all evening," Riza said as she entered the shared space. Slipping behind the counter herself and taking a passive stock of what was available on the shelves. Wearing her vest jacket and pants over the bodysuit she wears underneath her armor.

[Axel Ward]

Axel snorted. "Yeah. You're probably right." His eyes narrowed as he studied his Chiss... comrade? Partner? Person he shared a ship with? Whatever.

Finally, he tilted the glass back, taking a generous sip. "Correlian whiskey. It's good stuff." He slid the bottle across the counter to Riza. "How about it?"

[Riza]

"Planets been good to me," she shrugged, "why not."

Slipping a bottle she'd taken in hand to examine closer back before she even looked at it Riza found herself a whiskey glass, popping in a couple cubes from a nearby fridge and then set it out on the table.

Grabbing the bottle, "You deal with those folks looking for you back on Tatooine?" she asked, pouring out half a glass before setting the bottle back down.

[Axel Ward]

"Yeah?" Axel gave a slow nod. "It's been alright to me, too. Can't complain, anyway."

He waited as she poured herself a drink. "Not all of 'em." He said, his tone grim. "It musta been my old boss. My first boss. A real scumbag. And just a bounty; didn't even send his best. It's almost insulting." He shook his head.

"You?" He raised his glass, clinking it against hers before taking a sip.

[Riza]

"Not yet," she took a drink, a long time for her lips to be pressed to the glass for such a little amount.

"What has them hunting you, old boss didn't take too kindly to your retirement?"

[Axel Ward]

Axel nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. Says he made me, he owns me." A grimace briefly flickered over Axel's face. "He didn't make me. Screw him, anyway. When we get some time, I'm gonna go settle it."

He took a slow slip of his own; lips not so long on the glass, but holding the liquid in his mouth. "You wanna tell me why yours were after you?" He finally asked.

[Riza]

"No," she answered, honestly. Letting the bottom of the glass rest on the table for the moment.

"Like yours," she relented a bit, "I am going to go see that they receive what they are due as soon as I am able. Their story doesn't much matter much more beyond that, they'll be dead," she took another, similarly long drink but this time actually allowed more to pass between her lips.

[Axel Ward]

Axel grunted. "Figured. Well, there's stuff I don't share, either." He didn't begrudge someone their secrets, not a bit.

Riza's declaration made Axel chuckle darkly. "Sounds good to me." He said. Another sip, add he set his glass down, one big hand still around it.

"So." He began. "You gonna handle it yourself? Or gonna bring anyone along?"

[Riza]

"You planning on making yours a group effort?" she asked, putting the question in contrast. "It's not something that someone does for a benefit. I'm not in the sense of hiring people on a personal vendetta and I don't see any other reason for someone to get involved."

"Short answer," she raised her glass up a bit, "no. I wouldn't trust anyone who would want to join a job like that."

[Axel Ward]

"I might." Axel shrugged. "I could invite Kusat. Or W... Phoebe. I'd take either one. Rose, sure." He half-smiled, half-grimaced. "Kriff, I'd even take you, and you're the biggest pain in my ass on this ship."

He frowned, regarding her with narrowed eyes. "Why not? I don't get it. Is it just 'cause you usually work alone?" Axel shrugged. "I started with a gang when I was twelve. Worked alone a lot, but I usually had one partner or another. It's how I got the invite from Kairi."

[Riza]

Riza glanced at her drink, swished it around, and took a drink before setting the empty glass down onto the table once more. Reaching for the bottle, "If, I helped you, if, I was convinced to, you'd get a better plan of action out of me than any of that lot. They've their uses, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better strategist," she poured herself another half glass.

[Axel Ward]

Axel watched as Riza poured her drink. He could tell something was on her mind, but that cool blue exterior was opaque to him. But it did tell him there was something to his question.

As she answered, Axel chuckled. "If I hadn't seen you in action... Kriff." He shook his head.

He took a sip of his whiskey, eyes on her. Studying. "So, and I'm not saying I'm gonna try, but what does it take to convince you? Besides money." Axel grimaced.

[Riza]

"I need to see a benefit," she said, not quite sure herself. Taking a drink from her newly minted glass she set the bottle aside. "Credits, are the easiest go to. Credits give the potential to move people, to open doors, and to purchase arms. Otherwise, there will have to be something I see in the plan that can offer me an advantage."

[Axel Ward]

"Advantage, huh? So that's how it is." Axel's lips quirked; it was mostly a tease, after all.

He spread his hands, still holding his glass. "Don't you think there's advantage in helping a teammate? Then you help me on mine, I help you on yours. Break all the doors you need." Chuckling, he shook his head. "That was a good time, last night."

[Riza]

"You are surprisingly high spirited for a man who I find standing alone, glowering at his drink, " Riza commented.

"I think you make the mistake that it will be a good time, crashing down upon our enemies. Defeating them in some heroic exercise of Mandalorian might, but that is not what this is. That is not what it will be. If, I'm lucky, and I plan it right, my enemies will die before I do."

[Axel Ward]

"Everyone's always saying I have a sunny disposition." Axel said blandly.

He scowled at her. "Kriff. You saw me fight. How many people do you think I've killed? And you think I think it's heroic?" He shook his head. "I do it because it needs doing, and I'm damn good at it." He tossed back a gulp of his whiskey, setting down the empty glass with a heavy thunk.

[Riza]

"It's easy, killing others who need killing. Defending yourself, your beliefs, your nation. Yet, it comes for us all eventually and sometimes it comes for the people on your side, the ones you've worked with and fought with," she took a drink, then spoke something aloud in Cheunh.

[Axel Ward]

"I guess." Axel grimaced. "If me thinking someone was an asshole counts as a belief."

But the follow-up was interesting. Axel gave her a searching look. Had she lost someone? He'd come back to that. "What'd that mean?" Axel asked curiously.

[Riza]

"If it was for your ears, I would not have spoken it in a language you would not understand," she said factually. She'd move her arms to slide onto the counter, supporting herself against it as they continued to speak.