Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Layne Hoshin]

She rolled her eyes.

"Are you serious?"

What?

"I'm trying to kick the murder habit. I just went through some withdrawal, that's all."

Coping through bad jokes!

"I probably *am* okay with a lot more now than I was a few weeks ago, though. You know how it is."

[Lucinia Malveaux]

"Mmm... yes, one must be careful around addictive behaviors. Like murder." Lucinia chuckled, extending her arm to pour more wine into Layne's mug.

Then she gave a little shrug. "Well. If you're interested, a Sith outside of our little fun group here-" she waved a hand around, "-offered me a million credits to deliver you to him. Unharmed. If you trust in your abilities, well, it could certainly be worth both our whiles, couldn't it?"

[Layne Hoshin]

The palm of her hand went up to her face.

"He did what?"

[Aphr Ahaya]

Then her expression darkened. "I did not witness this. What happened?"

"Oh it was pretty comedy. Some ship comes down, this darth came out demanding Layne. Turns out he was Baras's brother, a shouting match ensured. Turned out he was pretending to be some Alderaan noble or something? And was madly in love with Layne. Or is still, I really couldn't stop laughing enough to keep up."

Aphr sipped her caf, and managed not to choke at the money value.

"A million credits you say?"

[Lucinia Malveaux]

"I see." Lucinia said, frowning. "So this Darth Irrej is related to Darth Baras?" A moment passed, and she smirked. "Well, and I thought I had embarrassing relatives."

The smirk grew. "Yes, a million credits. I wonder if that offer is still good?"

[Layne Hoshin]

"Ugh... not just pretending. Even Captain Alderaan was convinced he's a real Organa!"

[Aphr Ahaya]

"I'm glad my sister is quite normal in comparison to this family of Darth Baras" Aphr said with a chuckle "so we just take Layne to Darth Irrej and get a million credits then?"

[Lucinia Malveaux]

Lucinia smirked. "Well, if Captain Alderaan says so, it must be true." Her sarcasm was evident. "The machinations of the Sith are far deeper than a poster boy can comprehend."

Then she smiled. "I suspect she'd have to be suitably restrained. Still, it could be worth the risk, don't you think?" She looked at Layne. "What would you do if you had even a hundred-thousand credits?"

[Layne Hoshin]

"I thought he was offering a million credits," she said, "You saying I only get ten percent?"

[Lucinia Malveaux]

Lucinia rolled her eyes. "No, I was merely setting bounds for the thought experiment."

There was a short pause, and then she smiled. "Very well. Set a number. Then consider, what would you do if you had that many credits?"

[Layne Hoshin]

"I'm not a material person," she said.

Which was mostly true; despite how many people over the years had accused her of being just that.

"So long as I have the basic tools of my trade, I don't really need much more. A million credits? I mean, I guess I could buy something like my old frigate again, but what'd be the point?"

[Aphr Ahaya]

"Buy property, have money left to keep it running, scare anyone away. Live in comfort and never have to worry about the end of the galaxy" Aphr said with a chuckle

[Lucinia Malveaux]

"Tch. Things." Lucinia sniffed. "Oh, I won't deny that there's a few things that I might like to acquire. A few pieces of art, a wardrobe update, that sort of thing. But that sort of thing is hardly important."

She took a very slow sip of wine. "What I would do if I had a million credits is I would secure a little space for myself where I could perform my research. Where no one could bother me, except those whom I wished to see. Beyond petty political concerns, or the wills of those who would seek to use me for their own ends."

Smiling, she set down her glass. "In short, I would use it to secure a measure of freedom for me and mine. As would my friend here, it seems." A slow nod to Aphr. "Perhaps that would be something you'd be more interested in, Master Hoshin?"

[Layne Hoshin]

"A million credits doesn't even begin to buy that for me, I think," she said, "besides, someone who'se succesfully managed to fool everyone the way he has probably isn't very trustworthy, don't you think? And why would he pay you anyway now that he's here to do it himself? I guess you could make it easier but..."

She looked down at her mug.

"...wait, did you spike this?"

[Lucinia Malveaux]

Lucinia grinned. "Hmmm, that would be quite the plan, wouldn't it? Give you the largest portion of the alcohol, and a mug just for you. Scoop you up once you're unconscious and deliver you for the reward. And if you wanted me to test first, well..." She nodded to Aphr, "-perhaps I'd arranged for a confederate to secure me while selling you. Why, that is a good plan, isn't it?" She leaned back in her chair, her yellowed eyes glinting.

Then she gave another of her little shrugs. "But no. Since the policy of the Empire on this base is apparently cooperation, well, I shall choose cooperation. Thus, why I am asking instead of poisoning."

Another shrug, another slow sip. "But it's up to you, really. Do what you want. It's no concern of mine."

[Layne Hoshin]

"Wouldn't have worked anyway," she said, "I have a strong constitution."

She looked like she was about to let out a burp.

[Aphr Ahaya]

"I'm still on the side of handing her over for credits anyway personally" Aphr said with a small chuckle "but fine. A million credits for anyone is a lot though, what did you do to get such a target on your head?"

[Layne Hoshin]

"Guy's obsessed with me," she said with a sigh, "You show a guy a good time once when you just nearly died and aren't making the best decisions, and then they write you into their creepy novels, make who knows how many credits off of them, and years later apparently still can't get over you."

[Lucinia Malveaux]

"Right?" Lucinia chuckled as she refilled the drinks, then tipped over the empty bottle, letting it clatter noisily on the counter. "If there were that many credits on me..." She tilted her head, "Well, admittedly it is a challenge to both collect the credits and kill the fool, but, well, I'd like to think I'm creative enough to handle it."

Her nose wrinkled. "Where did this happen, anyway? And please, do spare the details."

[Layne Hoshin]

"I wasn't going to tell you those details anyway," she said, holding the burp in, "as for where? Alderaan. About five years back, right after an attempted coup during their silly festival of flowers thing."

[Lucinia Malveaux]

"I'd heard about that." Lucinia gave an unconcerned sniff. "Even on one of the Republic's jewels it faces division. Unsurprising, really."

"So..." Lucinia toyed with her glass, rolling it between her fingers. "What are you going to do about it? Besides drink my wine."

[Layne Hoshin]

"I am not one to defend Alderaan," she said, "But anyway. Not sure I'm going to do anything. We've got a bit more to worry about than one weirdo pretending to be a Darth."

[Aphr Ahaya]

"Well, it could be quite damaging for morale" Aphr commented "maybe you should just get it over with and go to him? Either tell him to kriff off, or keep him sweet so he plays along and we get an extra defender of the base. Either way it doesn't distract you and as you say we've got other things to worry about than your love life. He seemed the drama type, so I could see him being very disrupting if he's made to wait too long."

[Lucinia Malveaux]

Lucinia's teeth flashed white. "Well, it's certainly no concern of mine either way. He's not obsessed with me, after all."

She turned her smirk to Aphr. "He did seem quite the dramatic type, didn't he? Perhaps you're right, this is like a soap opera. How delightful." She took another sip of the wine.

[Layne Hoshin]

"Oh sure, take one for the team," she said, rolling her eyes.