space station: Lonely Highway

[Droogie15]

"She's got a body like a plasma belt and tits that could lag a jump point. She'll bend your mind while you're busy lookin' at her behind! She's vivacious, she's CUR-vacious, please help me welcome to the stage...Neb-u-luh!" The Bay's DJ attempts to excite the crowd with his hokey announcer voice pitch, the whole act appearing more quaint and funny that exciting in any way. The deep bass dance music begins to pick up as the girl who had just been announced appears on the catwalk a brass pole stationed at the end of the polished black platform.

Counting his money as he walks through the station's expansive and friendly white halls, stopping outside a small archway as he reads "The Bay" off of a large yet out of place commercial marquee. Entering through what appears to be a manually jammed cargo bay blast door he smiles as he discovers a rather seedy and noisy strip club (at first glance). With a dancing alien female on stage he makes his way over to the bar and places his coin purse back into his jump suit pocket before addressing the porcupine-like bartendress.

"What's good here?" He asks as he lays both hands on the bar eagerly, his eyes thinned as he reads the labels on the distant mirrored wall of drinks. In hearing her response and coming to an understanding of how much it'll cost him, he replies. "Okay, I'll take one of those." Removing the pouch of coins, attempting to appear jaded and calm though he couldn't be more excited to be out of his cramped space ship, lookng around at all the bar's patrons, a few good looking women and a number of interesting looking men, hoping he'll find some people to share stories with "and maybe even some pussy!" He insistantly thinks to himself as he turns back to the bar upon recieving his drink.

 

[~*fairywings*~]

Nebula

A beautiful Belthian girl enters along the catwalk. She is tall, with a lithe and toned body. Her skin is a pale silvery blue, her hair is white and flows down to the center of her back in long waves.

Her features are strangely beautiful, she has indigo blue eyes and lips that accent her stark skin & hair. She is barely clothed, in a two piece royal blue outfit. It has strtegically placed tears to expose just the right amount of skin to get the crowd excited.

She sways across the platform to the music. Her body entracing the entire room. She eyes and winks at men in the crowd as she grabs the pole and swings around it. She wraps one lean leg around and spins, arching her back, exposing the swell of her breasts.

 

[Arioso]

Ren

Nights at The Bay were all pretty much the same.

Ren deftly mixed drinks at her post behind the bar, keeping an eye on the ebb and flow of the crowd. The young pilot whose drink she'd just slid across the counter was like a thousand other customers: light-hearted, eager for action after being stuck on a transport, and ... yup, there he goes ... enchanted by Nebula.

The Nokkan proprietress of The Bay grinned wryly. Nebula should be registered as a secret weapon; that female was amazing. One of the best damn purchases Ren had ever made, although she'd never been comfortable owning a slave. Nebula drew them into the bar and kept them coming back.

Although she maintained a relaxed, easygoing demeanor behind the bar, nothing escaped Ren's watchful eye. Every so often, her gaze swept the interior....she kept tabs on the smugglers haggling over an illegal shipment back in the corner...the burly Tanzarians arm wrestling at a table...theOHFUCK!

Like a shot, she strode to the end of the bar and snatched a glass container filled with a thick, swirling blue liquid out of the hands of her resident lush, V'lork, who sat swaying on his usual bar stool, and who had been raising the glass to his mouth.

Ren delivered a sharp blow to the shoulder of a hulking, fur-covered bodyguard who stood with his back to the bar, engaged in an argument with another patron. When the body guard turned around and grunted, Ren shoved the glass at him and snapped, "Hey! Keep your mind on the job, Orr! V'lork here nearly drank the Kolian ambassador."

Orr, the shaggy body guard, merely took the ambassador from Ren's hands and grunted.

Ren glared, whereupon the hulking mass of fur eased away from the bar and growled an apology.

She didn't usually need a weapon to keep things running smoothly in The Bay. Indeed, she rarely carried one with her on the station. The dagger strapped to her thigh was primitive and non-threatening compared to the kinds of blasters most of those who passed through this place armed themselves with. But, then, its purpose wasn't self-defense. It was a Nokkan ritual vendetta knife, and it never left her presence.

Ren's eyes glanced down at the computer screen behind the bar and scanned the list of new arrivals to the station. Looked like there would be another wave of customers in about an hour.

Another patron at the bar flicked his wrist, waving her over. Ren eased down the bar to take his order.

It was shaping up to be another good night.

 

[~*fairywings*~]

Nebula

Nebula continues her seductive swaying, getting bills slipped into the waist band of her barely exisant skirt. Her shackles on her wrists and ankles clinked and joined with the music.

They were a sign of her slavery and they were a universal symbol. Everyone who came to the Bay on a regular basis knew that Nebula was enslaved to it. Yes she made great wages and tips, and Ren was wonderful to her, but Nebula wished to serve, it was afterall her calling in life.

She glanced over at the bar, seeing the new arrival. It was a human, male, a captain of a ship that had just come to port after a long journey from the looks of him, exhausted yet filled with lust.

Belthians were partially telepathic and could read thoughts. Nebula often blocked this ability, especially while onstage as it was somewhat overwhelming, but this man's thoughts were particularly interesting to her. She kept her eyes contact with him and continued to peruse his mind.

 

[Droogie15]

Unconsciously allowing his hips to sway in time with the music, he becomes away of his silly activity as the current song comes to an end and Nebula is allowed to take a short break. The men standing around her go back to their various seats and order more of what they were drinking or eating as they wait for the next song to start. Timothy laughs very lightly at himself and turns his back on the resting dancer, drinking down the dark red liquid he coughs heartilly at pats his chest.

"Oh...wow..." Looking around, wiping his eyes with his hanker cheif and adjusting his fleece padded leather jacket that is worn in conjunction with his otherwise plain jumpsuit. "I'd like one more please." Getting the attention of the tough looking bardtendress.

"How long have you had that one?" Motioning over his shoulder to the catwalk, a thinlipped smile poking through his beard.

Taking his drink from the woman he sips more cautiously at his glass this time around, managing to keep from choking. Accepting the answer to his previously asked question, he strokes his beard and asks with a wink. "How does she fare at barbary? And how much would it cost for me to rent an hour or two with the little Belthian hair-trimmer?"

As he speaks over the counter, he keeps one ear trained on the activity behind him, paying close attention to any conversation considering the dancers music hasn't resumed yet.

"What's the hold up!?" One customer demands to the blue woman as yet another, seated farther back calls out, "Get that ass in gear, move it or get off the stage, bitch!"

 

[Arioso]

Nebula is the finest in the house...

...so she'll run you five hundred credits an hour," Ren answered smoothly.

The price usually had the same effect on every male she quoted it to. First, the eyes widened in shock -- five hundred credits was the equivalent of a week's pay for many of The Bay's customers.

But then....then desire kicked in, and they handed over their encoded debit cards to pay the fee.

Before Ren had the opportunity to study this young rogue for his reactions, however, a minor disruption drew her attention to the stage.

Crude, surly shouts are hurled at the stage as some of the more intoxicated customers grow impatient for the next dance to begin.

Poised to spring over the bar and break up any outbreaks of violence, Ren hollers at one of the boorish louts, "Keep a lid on it, or I'll put five quills in your next drink and leave you out in the corridor to sleep it off."

 

[~*fairywings*~]

Nebula

Nebula glared at the gentlemen that barked their lewd comments at her, she hissed in a high piched tone that caused only the men who had shouted to grab their heads in pain.

Once her hissing stopped the searing pain left a dull throb in their skulls.

That'll teach 'em she thought.

"Only one more dance tonight boys, you can thank those two lovely gentlemen for that." she called out to the crowd which returned with "Boooos" and nasty glares at the shouters.

Nebula had seen Ren quote her price to that gentleman at the counter and had read in his thought that he intended to rent her so truly she was only going to do one more dance, regardless of the taunts. But why not get those two bastards beaten up?

The music pumped into The Bay and Nebula began her seductive swaying once again.....

 

[Droogie15]

"Don't ever rent a commodity you can get for free." Timothy's father growled as he cleaned the human-sized air intake valve of an old heavy transport star freighter in the back of Timothy's mind. "Show me a man who makes an investment in a product that can actually return money to himself and I'll show you a man who's got a head on his shoulders."

"Ff..five hundred credits? Per hour?" Scoffing away at his own little predicament of libido versus economy. "Jeez...if she's 500 to rent how much would a freight like her be to purchase?"

Thinking of all the money he's going to be spending on his ship during his stay he wasn't really in the market to be buying slaves and didn't, in all honesty, expect an answer from the brutish though oddly sexy female behind the counter.

He sips from and finishes the last few inches of his drink before raising an eyebrow to the woman with the knife, a mouthful of bitter tasting liquid sloshing against his teeth as he process the answer to his rhetorical question.

 

[Arioso]

Ren permitted herself a small grin...

...as she spied the arrogant, drunken oafs who had harrassed Nebula, now clutching their heads in pain.

Bemused, the Nokkan shook her head slightly. She needn't have worried about the dancer. That clever little minx could take care of herself. Her hiss was something else. Still, Ren found it hard to curb her protective impulses.

She felt them rising again when the man at the counter wondered about what it would cost to purchase Nebula.

Ren took a good, long, appraising look at him.

It might have been an offhanded question, but she took it seriously, largely because this was a matter that had always loomed in her mind...one she hadn't yet resolved to her satisfaction.

What would she do if it ever came down to selling Nebula? To whom would she entrust the welfare...the life...of another being?

"That's a very complex matter," Ren answered at last. Stretching out a lithe, muscular arm, she indicated a nearby table. "Have a seat over there. The owner will need to consider it."

The man frowned at her warily, no doubt suspicious of her. She probably came across as just another greedy bar owner. But he moved to the table nonetheless.

Now for the hard part.

As a Belthian, Nebula was good at reading most sentient beings, and beyond that she was damned sharp. She also seemed to thrive in her status as a slave...but to broach the subject of her sale? Ren felt hoplessly inadequate to the task. It seemed a ridiculous idea to ask her, "So, how would you like it if I sold you to this guy?"

Sighing, Ren waved Nebula over to the bar at the end of her dance. When the graceful Belthian drew near, Ren directed her attention to the man at the table.

"See him? His name....well, I didn't catch his name. But he's inquired about a business proposition. Talk to him. Get a sense of what kind of person he is. I'd like to know your opinion before I discuss anything seriously with him."

Nebula held her gaze for a moment, the bemused half-smile on her face making it clear to Ren that the dancer could see right through her, but was exercising her usual patience with the awkward proprietress. Then, just as smoothly as she'd arrived, Nebula sauntered over to the man's table and sat down.

Ren felt the tension ease out of her wiry body and ran a hand over her face, exhaling deeply. Fine. It was done. It might not be the most elegant method in the world, but if Nebula found him worthy, Ren might consider the transaction.

For a brief moment, the shrewd proprietor in the back of her mind calculated the amount of profit she should try to make off of the sale of her star dancer....losing Nebula would definitely cut into business.

And then Ren felt a burning twinge on her chest, beneath the form-fitting, padded body armor she always wore.

Ren had only to think of the charred skin and the scars she herself bore, the ones that had marked her, haunted her, for ten years, and knew that she wouldn't ask for more than what she'd originally paid for Nebula.

 

[~*fairywings*~]

Nebula

Nebula had stopped her persuits of reading the mind of the man at the bar. She was focused for the moment of her dancing. After all, she thought he was just going to rent her, it was a common occurance and a great way to make some quick credits.

As the music stopped the crowed booed as they knew Nebula would not dance again that night. She teasingly winked and blew kisses to the men before seeing Ren hail her.

She assumed that Ren was going to introduce her to the man who wanted to rent her and then give her a key to one of the back rooms, but the moment she made eye contact with Ren she knew something was different. Normally Nebula tried hard to contain the fact that she could read thoughts by not making it obvious. But when she realized that Ren was considering seeling her she could not help but smile slightly. She was surprised, Ren knew that Nebula was very proud of being a slave, and that she wanted a proper Master.

"Ok Ren....I'll go talk to him, but I already know he's a good guy, not necessarily worthy of being a Master though. I'll have to delve a bit deeper into his thoughts. It was harder being so far from him, but now I'll be able to read him better."

Nebula headed to the table. Even her walk was provocative. Her hips swayed softly from side to side, she carried herself as if she were floating over the ground, moving with no effort at all. She approached the men and smiled softly. She knelt beside the table, her arms stretched out infront of her and her forehead touching the ground. She then rose and sat in the chair across from the man.

"Hello Sir, I am Nebula, humble slave to the Bay." she said. Her voice was cool, but not cold. It was refreshing and relaxing, smooth, like chilled water running over a body on a hot summers day.

 

[fifi]

Locust

Locust was a young cyborg who had worked in the Bay in one year as a bartendress, was looking for a lover, and it should not be one of those big muscular trucker driver types.
Locust had started her work as a bartendress in a casino on the neighbour planet, and then was she finding her new work in a nightclub who laid at a Subway station.
Two years later was Locust going to work in the Bay, she thought it was the best place she had worked in, and there was many types she loved there.

 

[Remec]

Dmitri

As the mood of the Bay settled into the smooth rhythm of another evening of drinking, schmoozing, dancing, and watching dancers, the doors open and a man glides in with a big smile and a hearty laugh. "Ahhh, Ren, my dear!," Dmitri exclaimed with the open armed greeting of an uncle who's been away for quite some time. "Something cold and clear and inviting for an old friend."

He smiled and his eyes twinkled as he removed his old Naval officer cap. "An old friend with money, yes? Will not last long, never does, I know, but will do, eh?" He sat at the bar, first taking off a travel coat, the holster and grip of a sidearm briefly visible tucked beneath his inner jacket...up under his arm, along his left side. He looked about the place, taking in the clients and the staff.

"Still have the lovely Nebula, I see. Who is that, though?", he threw back the shot she'd brought him. Ren always remembered what her regulars drank, no matter that Dmitri hadn't been regular for several months. Nasty business with those Biscayne "salvagers"...cutthroat marauders is what they were. He grinned at the thought. Yes, were was certainly the right word. Hopefully, they'd gotten all of them.
Ren glanced at whom he'd meant and saw Fifi bussing a table of its glasses. "She seems a bit...different.", Dmitri continued. "Is not coming to mind, but it will." He winked and sipped at the tall ale that always followed his shot.

 

[Arioso]

"Dima, you old dog!"

Ren's catlike, golden eyes flashed warmly as she greeted her old scoundrel of a friend with her familiar nickname for him. Dmitri was a good sort -- worked hard, played hard, and in playing hard, spent a great deal of money in The Bay.

Of course, Ren's fondness for him wasn't directed solely at his purse. He was one of the few regular clients who had some scruples under his outgoing, ribald exterior. And as such, he'd earned her respect.

She poured his usual, a chilled shot of Anzarrene fire whiskey, and slid it across the bar. He caught it without even looking. Not surprisingly, his gaze was already wandering around the bar, assessing the evening's possibilties.

"Still have the lovely Nebula, I see. Who is that, though?" Dmitri asked with hearty interest as he reached for the smooth, Nokkan ale Ren had pulled from the tab as soon as she'd served him his whiskey. "She seems a bit different. It's not coming to mind, but it will."

Ren glanced across the room and saw that it was the cyborg, Locust, who intrigued Dmitri. Ahhhh, no wonder he was having trouble reading her.

Leaning easily on her elbow, Ren remarked, "Her name is Locust. She's been here for a while...came in from the casino over on Giedi-4. And if you're wondering why you're not getting the usual vibes..."

God, she loved teasing him. Ren let her phrase trail off until Dmitri looked at her and arched an impatient eyebrow.

"...she's a cyborg. Want me to call her over for you, big boy?"

 

[fifi]

Locust

Locust was reading Dmitri and Ren's informations with her radar eyes, and they seemed interesting, especially Ren.
Many of the guys she had met at the subway nightclub was drunken subway workers, and many prostitued girls came to the nightclub too.
Locust feared that those guys would show up at the Bay one night, but the guards at the Bay was very strict, so there was nothing to worry about yet.

OOC:The name Locust is inspired by the Ambient group Locust.

 

[fifi]

OOC:

I'm out of action until tomorrow.

 

[Droogie15]

"Hello Nebula." Timothy states very plainly, sweat already beginning to push through the pores underneath his thick beard. "My name's Timothy, Timothy Etler, I'm sorry about my face I've been on a freighter for the last 5 months..."

There is obvious timidity in his voice, he hasn't dealt with many women and finds himself attempting to swim in a situation he truely hadn't planned for. Yet, he wants a slave and has always envied the verious princes and kings of the star system he was passing through when he got an eyefull of the sort of servants they had to choose from. He glances over her body from across the table, warm light radiating from a silvery glass ball in the center of the table.

"Did that women tell you the reason you're here? I mean, at this table?" It was obvious through Timothy's voice and actions that he both really liked this girl and didn't have much experience with girls of any sort. His smile peaked out from behind his beard and he appeared to be getting more comfortable.

"You little shit!" Timothy's father shoves the long sliding metal door of an ancient rusting ship hangar, meanwhile Timothy, at around age 10, holds his knees and his breath as he hides in the very same valve that his father was cleaning in his previous memory. A sharp whipping crashing sound closes the memory running through his mind.

Timothy's expression is blank as he patiently waits for an answer to the question he asked of Nebula, unaware that she is capable and currently occupied in reading his thoughts. "Something wrong?"

 

[Remec]

Da...if is not problem...

"I think I would be interested in meeting this cyborg." Dmitri sipped from his drink and nodded his head looking Locust over once more from head to foot and back. He turned to Ren and smiled. "You know me, my friend. I like to meet *all* of the people who work here. Never know what sort of mood I'll be in, or...more importantly...when I might have to rely on someone other than yourself for my shot and ale."

Dmitri chuckled a bit and nodded to his shot glass. "Speaking of which, your fireale has cooled. Perhaps your supplier has been dabbling in the distilling business?" Picking the glass up and giving the residue inside a lick, flicking his tongue within his mouth, brushing the taste against his lips, Dmitri added with a confident nod. "Good, pure water...but water where none should be...is why I tell you to sample these batches from time to time."

He held up his hand before Ren could protest. "Yes, yes...you only sell, you don't drink. I have heard it before...many times...but, something tells me I haven't heard it all. But, enough prying...I am in no hurry to be a curious cat." Dmitri's grin returned and he looked at the cyborg once more over a shoulder.

"Well...there's curiousity and there's scientific research...eh?"

 

[Arioso]

Ren caught Locust's attention and signalled for her to come over to the bar. As the cyborg was currently dealing with a table of customers, it might be a few moments, so Ren sighed and continued her easygoing banter with Dmitri.

Although a subtle, underlying current of tension crept into the previously relaxed mood at his mention of needing to depend on another for his shot and ale.

"You know very well that my staff is the best there is. You'd be well cared for, Dima, if pressing matters called me away from The Bay," Ren countered with feigned sternness, softened by a friendly smirk. Her countenance grew more serious as she added, "As for hearing it all, you know enough, my friend. Drinking would only weaken my focus, and that is fatal in the realm of vendetta. You should know -- you've had your back up against the wall plenty of times."

"Ahhh, now that," Dmitri agreed, thumping his fist on the counter for emphasis, "is true. And I have walked away every time. See, is the point I am making, Ren. There is a time for fighting, but then fight is over and is time for drinking. When do you drink?"

Ren felt the heaviness weighing on her, dearly wishing that Dmitri would just let things lie. Speaking slowly, to keep her voice steady, she said, "As you said -- when the fight is over." Injecting a more jovial, daring tone to her voice, she taunted, "Besides, I think you're just baiting me, Dima you sly devil. MY fire whiskey, watered? You aren't one to talk about watered drinks. When you're ready to try a real drink -- say, the Nokkan stun-shot -- then I just might drink with you."

Dmitri clenched his jaw and fixed her with a hard stare. Ren schooled her features into a disinterested mask, heartily enjoying the stand-off with her friend, who could be just as stubborn as she was.

"I wonder what the hold-up is with Locust," Ren remarked absently, continuing to drum her fingers against the bar as she faced-off with Dmitri.

 

[ariosto]

The action in the Bay was already in the turgid zone, a midnight bacchanale of drifting smoke, sense numbing sounds and blue/pink neon when Rafael Sabatini-Sanchez, slid his cadaverous seven foot frame into a corner alcove from which he could survey the entire establishment easily, even from behind the midnight black Cassini shades he was sporting. It had cost a fist of stash to get them augmented and he could almost see through walls with the damned things.
A wide smile and a jingle of hardcredit soon had a perky serviter at the table and he placed an order for two Kalistan Kangaroo's straight up. Slipping an ornate ring off his manicured, tapering finger, with a blood red stone the size of small cauliflower on it, he leaned close to the cyborminx with a request to take it to the proprietress alongwith an urgent request to speak to her on matters of a crucial and most profitable nature.

He settled back with his soma laced drinks, lit a bacstick and watched the show, his eyes on the seductive dancers, his mind on the 'con' and his heart bent on a dark revenge.


OOC: If it's not too late, I've arrived.

 

[fifi]

Locust

I was busy that night, and I haven't seen The Bay so crowded and lively before.
Many bought the Kalistan Kangaroo drink, and it was one of my favorite drinks too.
I could not wait for my shift to be over, there was only two hours left, and I had to meet with Ren somehow in my apartment across the nightclub.

 

[fifi]

OOC:

I'll be gone now, and I won't return before next evening.

 

[Arioso]

Ren was interrupted in her banter with Dmitri when one of her employees, a hulking, four-armed Lethian who made a great bartender in a pinch, approached and muttered that they were running low on Megarian wine.

"But a shipment came in today," Ren answered, frowning.

The Lethian muttered again, something about a labor dispute down at the docking bay.

Rolling her eyes, she considered her options. There was a crowd of off-duty technicians at one of the far tables who had been drinking nothing but Megarian wine all night. Grimacing in frustration, Ren recalled the stunt they'd pulled last time The Bay ran out of their beverage of choice.

The clients who'd been having sex in her holosuites had not been happy about the sudden "technical difficulties".

She glanced around the bar. Business was bustling, but not overwhelming.

Well, why not? She could use the exercise.

"George," she said to the Lethian who'd brought her the bad news, "Take over behind the bar. I'm going after that wine."

Turning to Dmitri, she smiled and added, "Dima, it looks like your opportunity to get to know all of the people here. Enjoy, my friend."

She grabbed her satchel of "necessaries" from the safe-box beneath the bar and slung it over her shoulder.

On her way toward the main door, Ren noticed a tall man in shades trying to offer a rather extravagant ring to Locust. But as his attention seemed to follow her, Ren figured it was a bid for the owner's time rather than a marriage proposal to one of her employees. She made a quick detour to his table and after a few words learned that, yes, this man had a business proposition.

"I tell you what. If you've got the solution to chronic labor disputes between dockworkers and the station's administration, I'll buy it right now," she remarked wryly. "Otherwise, I'll ask you to enjoy The Bay's hospitality for a while, and we can discuss business when I get back."

She nodded at the man's reply and then took her leave. As she neared the main door, she cast a quick glance back at the table where Nebula and the young pilot seemed to be carrying on a decent conversation.

Ren hoped that Nebula was getting a good sense for him. You had to give him credit for good taste and smarts: he was the first ever to ask about buying the alluring, Belthian slave. But Ren would ultimately base her decision on Nebula's opinion.

With that, she strode out to the public corridor.

OOC: Gracious thread partners, I'll be traveling down south for a long weekend, and won't be active in the thread until Monday night or so. Enjoy yourselves, and I'll look forward to seeing what's developed in here when I get back. Cheers.

 

[fifi]

OOC

I am out of action until Sunday evening

 

[Remec]

Hanging out

"Am I wanting to know *all* of the people here? This I am asking myself.", Dmitri replied to the departing Ren. She has not answered him, knowing her Dima to just be being Dima. He watched her leave with a small shake of his head, not wondering for the last time what was beneath that hard exterior she covered with toughness and laughter.
Of course, he wondered what was beneath the hard exterior of her armorlike clothing as well. But, first things first...he turned to regard the cyborg again, only to find her out of view. He glanced about and George slid him a new shot and ale,"Looking for Locust?"
"Locust? What I want with marauding bug?"
"Locust. The new barmaid you were drooling over."
"Nyet...not a drop of drool...just licking lips to savor drink, is all." Dmitri threw back the shot and chased it with a hefty swig of his ale to emphasize the point. "Ahhh...good...", he wandered away from the bar and settled down where he had a good view of the technicians. He'd heard why Ren had left, and had been here when the same bunch had last gotten out of hand. {Best keep eyes on them...just in case} Dmitri thought as he nursed his ale, waiting for either woman to return. Or for anything else interesting to come along.

 

[~*fairywings*~]

Nebula

She sat across the table from the man and nodded her head gently in response to his question about why she was there. She was perfectly aware that Ren actually intended to sell her, if this man was the right fit.

She smiled as he kindly introduced himself and was instantly attracted to his shy manner. The moment she peered into his thought she was shocked. It was evident this man had gone through a great deal of pain in his childhood. So much so that a silvery tear fell from Nebula's indigo blue eye.

She shot her head upwards to meet the man's gaze when he asked her if she was alright. Of course this man had no idea that she had just seen what he was thinking.

"Oh yes, quite alright, just had a bit of dust in my eye, that's all" she added with a gentle smile.

"So.....Sir, what interests you in purchasing me?"

The tone of her voice almost illuded to her hope of being bought, of having a true Master.