Title: Jaxxon's Twi'leks 8-- Sisters
author : helgaleena helgaleenas@yahoo.com
Series: post-TPM
Rating: PG-13 for implied sex and violence
Category: slash implied, het
Warning: prostitution
Disclaimer: Lucas is god of Star wars and owns everything; I am nothing
Summary: the continuing story of Jaxxon and Quinlan Vos
Author's note: Jaxxon's crew get together and do some bonding.
More on Jaxxon at web-strip Jaxxon's 11 at theforce.net
Lenara watched the tall Lepi towing Rena away into the back rooms. Her wide orange mouth curved into a knowing leer.
"What's so funny?" asked the blue girl-- Aayla, was it? Obviously brought up away from the pleasure trade.
"Lepi are like that, my dear. Very highly sexed. I was too familiar with him, I suppose..." She gained a bit of amusement at the rising comprehension in the young girl's violet eyes. She made herself at ease on the bar railing. "Stim punch, please, Jaba."
"The same," said Aayla. "How long have you been a pleasure worker, Mistress Lenara?" She put her elbows upon the bar as well, determined to swim in this new ocean.
"Not all of my life, dear, as so many of our sisters have. I have been a smuggler, and the black eeopie of my house, if not my clan. I remain in this profession because I have a talent for it." Her lekku, which were seemingly never still, curled around one of her arms as she reached for the glass of stim.
"My boss doesn't want me to have that talent," smiled Aayla
"If you have other skills, it is always better so. That is your-- boss, talking to Bib Fortuna?" They looked over to where the wooly-haired humanoid and the grayish, mushroomy-looking Twi'lek were conversing at a far table.
........................................
"You want to tell me where you get your glitteryll."
"I want to tell you where I get my glitteryll, from Pol Secura. But I have no glitteryll right now."
"I am pleased about that. You also want to tell me where Pol Secura gets the glitteryl." Quinlan Vos continued to wave the Force-currents into truth-telling patterns with one hand, his gaze boring deep into the Twi'lek's watery pink eyes, his devious brains.
"Pol Secura gets the glitteryll from the makers on Ryloth, beneath the Bright Lands."
"You are pleasing me with this information. You will tell me who the makers are."
"Pol Secura knows who the makers are. This unworthy does not know them."
"You will tell me if Pol Secura will sell me glitteryll."
"He will sell you glitteryl if I tell him you are trustworthy."
"I am trustworthy, and you will tell him so. Kim the Kiffar is trustworthy. Jaxxon will bring him there."
"Kim the Kiffar is trustworthy; Jaxxon will bring him. I will tell him so."
"You will write it, on this pad, and sign it with your personal code." He handed the dazed Twi'lek the data pad.
"Yes, I will do that." Bib wrote out something , which Kim could see was Twi'lek transposed into Aurabesh characters, and which contained the words "Secura" and "Kim Kiffar". Bib seemed at ease with production of the document, one of his familiar mental routines. He signed it with several small glyphs and a flourish, before dropping the stylus.
"You do not remember what I wanted, but I am a very satisfied customer. I am recommending you to my friends," said Quin, with another Force weaving gesture, as he retrieved the data pad.
"Yes, you will recommend me to your friends," repeated Bib, like a good mimic. As Quin left his table, he blinked repeatedly, looked confused, then went back to his writing.
........................................
"Yes, that's my boss. Sadly, he doesn't like women."
"Oh, you poor girl. You are certain? I must say, he does not look so prejudiced from here--" But Aayla's lekku were limp and straight as they fell to touch the bar, to either side of her fresh blue face. Her certainty was based on experience. Lenara leaned in to speak intimately, switching from Basic to Twi'lek.
"I and my sisters can console you, little one, if you let us. What we can teach you will stand you in good stead when at last you meet a worthy lover." Violet eyes turned up to meet her topaz ones. Aayla was holding herself aloof, but she was interested, curious. That was good. In some ways the girl comported herself too much like a man, in Lenara's opinion. She gave an inviting smile, lekku coiling and uncoiling, running her coral tongue across her pointy teeth. This could be great fun on their journey, and the girl's answering smile seemed to agree.
Just then they were joined by the tall Kiffar. Aayla looked up quickly. "Boss! This is Lenara; she will be traveling with us and Jaxxon."
The dark, shadowed eyes over the yellow stripes of tattooing betrayed very little. "Welcome, Lenara. You appear to be an expert at your trade." He was probably referring to her barely garmented backside, jutting away from the bar like a brilliant banner of orange, black and green. She turned and smiled at him, nose rings glinting.
"I would be happy to demonstrate. And so would the sisters I have invited to join us."
"Better wait for Jaxxon," he equivocated, with the suggestion of a smile. "Where is he, anyway?"
"Conducting an interview, I believe," smiled Lenara. "He told me that you must meet with my approval, or I with yours, I am not certain which. Oh, here they come now, my finds for friend Jaxxon's Twi'lek embassy to Coachelle." She gestured grandly at three females entering from the street. They began chattering immediately in Twi'lek, giving Quin a chance to send a querying look to Aayla. She answered over their training bond.
//I like her. You will, too.// She was pleased, not overawed or dazzled at all. Quin relaxed, visibly.
Lenara was ready to make introductions. "This," she said in Basic, indicating the tallest, green-skinned female, "is Oni. She is a singer, and has been free for two and one half years. And Niala, free for one and one half years. They share accommodations." Niala waved her sharp, pink fingernails; her charcoal gray skin was lightened by decorative, painted designs, upon nearly every body part.
"And this," said Lenara fondly, "is my little Lana." She brought forward a younger woman whose creamy skin was a pastel version of her own brilliant orange. She was entirely clothed in strappings of turquoise, and her rather large, bulging eyes had been dyed to match. "She will go where I go." A blush crept over Lana's round face at that. Aayla wondered what the relation was between the two of them. As if sensing her thought, Lenara smiled at her, a wicked smile. "You could say that I have an apprentice."
She continued, addressing herself mainly to Quin and partly to Aayla. "I have been told that we are to be our own mistresses, keeping our own profits, upon this journey; we are as window dressing to your other operations. I know only your names-- Kim and Aayla. But you are trusted by Jaxxon, and he is trusted by me, and these others." Quin met the eyes of each woman in turn. They all nodded. Aayla also sent,
//Their lekku show no deception. They are eager to leave here.//
Lenara turned to a newcomer. "Hello, Meena." A butter-yellow Twi'lek, in slit trousers and a rather conservative halter, joined them, slightly out of breath. She smiled welcomingly. "This is Meena, who has joined us without my intercession. But we know each other well, from Jabba's employ."
"Are you Kim? and Aayla? I have heard about you from Jaxxon. Pleased to meet you." Quin recognized the waitress from Porkins, where they'd had the excellent nerf steaks. So she was following Jaxxon into the unknown, too.
"It's nice to meet you, too, Meena. Nice to meet you all." Aayla's head-tails were betraying excitement, her master noticed. Kriff, she acted as if this was going to be a giant slumber party!-- Well, maybe that wasn't so far off, if you discounted the rest of the mission... The all-too familiar feeling of being the older and wiser head in a crowd was creeping over him again. He really hated to ruin the mood with practicalities.
Before he could bring any of them up, the women began a low chorus of, "there--Jaxxon--" "Jaxxon..." "Jaxxon!" "It's Jaxxon," etc., and all lekku began to point to his new partner, who was slouching in with yet another Twi'lek girl, this one a pleasant shade of violet. As if he were a vid star. Force. But the lanky kid had his green ears slanted back and was grinning with all his teeth. And Quin was glad to see him, himself; so let him bask in a little feminine adulation.
Actually, among this multi-colored party, his red suit and green fur looked almost commonplace. He sank to a stool in the midst of them. "Hello all, Leni, Lana, Oni, Meena, is it Niala? and Aayla, and Kim-- This is Rena, who wants to come but is still undecided. Ahem.
"As my partners have generously footed the bill for basic rations for us all, for twice as far as Ryloth, we can leave as soon as--- tomorrow! And now, before I buy you all a drink, let us press hands." Aayla watched, fascinated, as the large, soft green hands emerged from the spacer gauntlets.
"Do you follow this custom , too, Master Kim?" asked Lenara.
"Yes, I decided I should follow it, too," he said, with a smile. So she held out her palm to him, noticing that only his reddish fingers protruded from his wrist wrappings. She had heard that Kiffars learned through touch, like the Lepi.
He took her orange, pointed fingers to his, matching each to the other with precision, thumb to little finger and so on, so only the tips made contact. Whatever it was he gleaned from her, it made him smile. "Well met, Mistress Lenara, " he said. Yes, she knew she was incomparable.
Her Lana came forward next, to offer her peachy palm to him. Blushing again. May she never lose the knack. She, too, earned a smile.
Meanwhile, Jaxxon was doing the same with Niala and Oni. They knew one another, of course, but he was testing for himself their motives and resolve. All must live together in harmony aboard the Rabbit's Foot, which was not over-large. He and green Oni embraced for quite a long time. Lenara knew she had been doing other, boring work, and her scrawniness showed it had not suited her. Niala had complained about how she never sang anymore. Maybe she would begin again, among the stars.
Rena had been looking on, a little enviously, and also peeking around her, obviously looking for her idiot sister. She had warned Jaxxon about that one! Oh, now, there she went, running to what looked like a brown smudge against the lighter brown of the wall.
"Lila!" she cried, and scooped up the girl slumped there.
The white portions of Lila's outfit were no longer white, and large bruises were blotching her arms and face. Finger marks were visible upon one cheek. Even her neck was bruised. But she pushed her weeping sister away.
"Quit fussing, Rena; it looks worse than it is. I got another client or two after the Nikto. And now I'm free." She fumbled weakly at her waist for the credit scanner, and Rena got it out for her. It was true. Her debt to Bib Fortuna was paid.
Quin had dropped Meena's hand and followed Rena into the shadows. A quick Force scan confirmed what the younger girl was saying. They had been rough customers, but she hadn't cared, because she was stoned almost out of her wits on spice. Lack of resistance had saved her from more serious injuries. And any insult had left no impression. This one thought herself less than the spittle and other substances with which she had been smeared. Luckily they had paid in advance.
Her violet sister continued to cry. "Oh, Lila, come with me and Jaxxon. Please. Let me at least give you a bath at Lenara's. Lila?"
The plain, little brown Twi'lek opened her plain, brown eyes for a moment. "Whatever," she said, and shut them again.
Jaxxon had come over. "Whatever it is, then," he said, and gathered her up in his long, lean arms like a load of dirty laundry. He looked over at Lenara. "Okay, Leni?" Her eyes glinted hard for a moment, but then she nodded. The whole company of them proceeded to her home on Tatooine, down several dusty streets to a courtyard, up some stairs, to where Lana opened the door. "I will tell Jaba to send up a case," she volunteered in a soft voice, and dashed off.
The accoutrements of Lady Lenara's domination trade-- cuffs, scourges, whips, chains, clamps, racks-- were all around, but Jaxxon bypassed them all to put Lila into the large bathing tub. He took off his glove and pressed his hand to her forehead, as if checking for fever, as Rena tenderly undressed her. They both knew what he was really doing.
Jaxxon's voice shook a little as he took his hand away. "See she doesn't drown herself," was all he said, before he sat himself back against the wall to think over what he'd found.
Lila had nearly no self. What sense of herself she had, she hated. Her idea of pleasure was the absence of pain. She did not dance, or sing, or in other ways entertain or entice. Her major appeal was her fear. Her cringing and cowering and flinching were what appealed, and what fed her hate, of herself and of those who hurt her. When she was numbed by the spice, she was able to appear refractory, careless and nonchalant. Things others did for pleasure only mystified her. Even her sister's loving arms were an absence of hurt, not a true joy. Holy hutch. Twi'leks were a screwed up race, and no mistake.
Quin joined him against the wall. "Talk to me, Jaxxon."
The Lepi youth looked at his partner, green ears drooping. "I don't know if this one is worth the trouble or not. She's in bad shape. Still a minor for another week, according to her sister. Look at her-- she gets no pleasure out of being a pleasure worker, but it's all she knows. I don't want her being miserable all over my ship." He sighed. "But I went and invited Rena very strongly to join us. Her, I like."
Quinlan Vos decided it was time to give another lesson in mental shielding. He reached up, and laid his palm gently against one green, velvety cheekbone. Jaxxon blinked his absurdly long lashes, and let the impressions flow between them.
For a change, they didn't think about sex at all. Quin showed his student ways around it; by far it was the biggest part of him, but it was grounded in more abstract forms of love, that somehow managed to let him ignore his own body. They were blindingly obvious, now that he knew them. They just didn't occur to the average Lepi.
Together the partners made compassionate inventory of the women who had pressed their hands, trusting them with their lives. Niala, so skilled at painting herself and others, so broad-minded about beings. Oni, the musical, returning to the pleasure trade because the life of a menial killed her joy. Meena, whose glitteryll-wiped memories began only a year ago in Jabba's palace. Lana, the darling apprentice of her auntie Lenara, the incomparable. And affectionate Rena.
And Lila, the puzzle. They had to stop here-- so much of her actual self was only visible through her sister's impressions of her. So much was crumpled into invisibility within her.
Quin spoke aloud. "She must choose for herself whether to even keep alive. She lives now only out of a sense of obligation to her sister. Let's let her at least finish her bath!"
"Sounds like a plan," said Jaxxon.
Rena was helping the subject of their thoughts out of the rather mucky water, letting it drain, and shepherding the girl toward the fresher. The browner sister seemed totally unembarrassed by nakedness before the others, though she briefly tried to hide a rather large bite-mark from her sister.
Lenara intercepted them on their way, evidently laying down some sort of ultimatum. Though Lila's scarred back was to them, Rena seemed to react with gratitude, hugging the elder Twi'lek joyfully.
The other females had been conversing with one another in Twi'lek, obviously about the young lady in the tub, with Aayla as an interested listener. Now she hurried over to Quin and Jaxxon.
"The others have decided to do the coming of age ritual for Lila immediately. It is called Sisters Blessing, and it is for all females. I will be very interested to see this!" And she darted away again.
Meanwhile, Oni and Meena had scrubbed out the pieces of Lila's clothing, and hung them on a pole out the window to dry. Lana returned, with a grumpy looking Rodian bearing a case of cheap bubble-wine, which Jaxxon had to pay for.
He was feeling a little superfluous, actually, as the chatter was all in Twi'lek. What if they ever decided to mutiny? Naw, they loved their Bunny... But they were ignoring the males right now, busying themselves with arranging the room, finding glasses for the bubbly, and little things to eat with it. Niala went into the fresher with the birthday girl, and didn't come out.
He looked over at Quin, who had stayed squatting upon his heels against the far wall. " I guess we are going to witness some quaint Twi'lek folk-ways this evening. Maybe I ought to send out for kabobs."
"Sounds like a plan," said Master Vos. http://movies.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=544199104&chapter=8 http://sw-fictorium.livejournal.com/25025.html
author : helgaleena helgaleenas@yahoo.com
Series: post-TPM
Rating: PG-13 for implied sex and violence
Category: slash implied, het
Warning: prostitution
Disclaimer: Lucas is god of Star wars and owns everything; I am nothing
Summary: the continuing story of Jaxxon and Quinlan Vos
Author's note: Jaxxon's crew get together and do some bonding.
More on Jaxxon at web-strip Jaxxon's 11 at theforce.net
Lenara watched the tall Lepi towing Rena away into the back rooms. Her wide orange mouth curved into a knowing leer.
"What's so funny?" asked the blue girl-- Aayla, was it? Obviously brought up away from the pleasure trade.
"Lepi are like that, my dear. Very highly sexed. I was too familiar with him, I suppose..." She gained a bit of amusement at the rising comprehension in the young girl's violet eyes. She made herself at ease on the bar railing. "Stim punch, please, Jaba."
"The same," said Aayla. "How long have you been a pleasure worker, Mistress Lenara?" She put her elbows upon the bar as well, determined to swim in this new ocean.
"Not all of my life, dear, as so many of our sisters have. I have been a smuggler, and the black eeopie of my house, if not my clan. I remain in this profession because I have a talent for it." Her lekku, which were seemingly never still, curled around one of her arms as she reached for the glass of stim.
"My boss doesn't want me to have that talent," smiled Aayla
"If you have other skills, it is always better so. That is your-- boss, talking to Bib Fortuna?" They looked over to where the wooly-haired humanoid and the grayish, mushroomy-looking Twi'lek were conversing at a far table.
........................................
"You want to tell me where you get your glitteryll."
"I want to tell you where I get my glitteryll, from Pol Secura. But I have no glitteryll right now."
"I am pleased about that. You also want to tell me where Pol Secura gets the glitteryl." Quinlan Vos continued to wave the Force-currents into truth-telling patterns with one hand, his gaze boring deep into the Twi'lek's watery pink eyes, his devious brains.
"Pol Secura gets the glitteryll from the makers on Ryloth, beneath the Bright Lands."
"You are pleasing me with this information. You will tell me who the makers are."
"Pol Secura knows who the makers are. This unworthy does not know them."
"You will tell me if Pol Secura will sell me glitteryll."
"He will sell you glitteryl if I tell him you are trustworthy."
"I am trustworthy, and you will tell him so. Kim the Kiffar is trustworthy. Jaxxon will bring him there."
"Kim the Kiffar is trustworthy; Jaxxon will bring him. I will tell him so."
"You will write it, on this pad, and sign it with your personal code." He handed the dazed Twi'lek the data pad.
"Yes, I will do that." Bib wrote out something , which Kim could see was Twi'lek transposed into Aurabesh characters, and which contained the words "Secura" and "Kim Kiffar". Bib seemed at ease with production of the document, one of his familiar mental routines. He signed it with several small glyphs and a flourish, before dropping the stylus.
"You do not remember what I wanted, but I am a very satisfied customer. I am recommending you to my friends," said Quin, with another Force weaving gesture, as he retrieved the data pad.
"Yes, you will recommend me to your friends," repeated Bib, like a good mimic. As Quin left his table, he blinked repeatedly, looked confused, then went back to his writing.
........................................
"Yes, that's my boss. Sadly, he doesn't like women."
"Oh, you poor girl. You are certain? I must say, he does not look so prejudiced from here--" But Aayla's lekku were limp and straight as they fell to touch the bar, to either side of her fresh blue face. Her certainty was based on experience. Lenara leaned in to speak intimately, switching from Basic to Twi'lek.
"I and my sisters can console you, little one, if you let us. What we can teach you will stand you in good stead when at last you meet a worthy lover." Violet eyes turned up to meet her topaz ones. Aayla was holding herself aloof, but she was interested, curious. That was good. In some ways the girl comported herself too much like a man, in Lenara's opinion. She gave an inviting smile, lekku coiling and uncoiling, running her coral tongue across her pointy teeth. This could be great fun on their journey, and the girl's answering smile seemed to agree.
Just then they were joined by the tall Kiffar. Aayla looked up quickly. "Boss! This is Lenara; she will be traveling with us and Jaxxon."
The dark, shadowed eyes over the yellow stripes of tattooing betrayed very little. "Welcome, Lenara. You appear to be an expert at your trade." He was probably referring to her barely garmented backside, jutting away from the bar like a brilliant banner of orange, black and green. She turned and smiled at him, nose rings glinting.
"I would be happy to demonstrate. And so would the sisters I have invited to join us."
"Better wait for Jaxxon," he equivocated, with the suggestion of a smile. "Where is he, anyway?"
"Conducting an interview, I believe," smiled Lenara. "He told me that you must meet with my approval, or I with yours, I am not certain which. Oh, here they come now, my finds for friend Jaxxon's Twi'lek embassy to Coachelle." She gestured grandly at three females entering from the street. They began chattering immediately in Twi'lek, giving Quin a chance to send a querying look to Aayla. She answered over their training bond.
//I like her. You will, too.// She was pleased, not overawed or dazzled at all. Quin relaxed, visibly.
Lenara was ready to make introductions. "This," she said in Basic, indicating the tallest, green-skinned female, "is Oni. She is a singer, and has been free for two and one half years. And Niala, free for one and one half years. They share accommodations." Niala waved her sharp, pink fingernails; her charcoal gray skin was lightened by decorative, painted designs, upon nearly every body part.
"And this," said Lenara fondly, "is my little Lana." She brought forward a younger woman whose creamy skin was a pastel version of her own brilliant orange. She was entirely clothed in strappings of turquoise, and her rather large, bulging eyes had been dyed to match. "She will go where I go." A blush crept over Lana's round face at that. Aayla wondered what the relation was between the two of them. As if sensing her thought, Lenara smiled at her, a wicked smile. "You could say that I have an apprentice."
She continued, addressing herself mainly to Quin and partly to Aayla. "I have been told that we are to be our own mistresses, keeping our own profits, upon this journey; we are as window dressing to your other operations. I know only your names-- Kim and Aayla. But you are trusted by Jaxxon, and he is trusted by me, and these others." Quin met the eyes of each woman in turn. They all nodded. Aayla also sent,
//Their lekku show no deception. They are eager to leave here.//
Lenara turned to a newcomer. "Hello, Meena." A butter-yellow Twi'lek, in slit trousers and a rather conservative halter, joined them, slightly out of breath. She smiled welcomingly. "This is Meena, who has joined us without my intercession. But we know each other well, from Jabba's employ."
"Are you Kim? and Aayla? I have heard about you from Jaxxon. Pleased to meet you." Quin recognized the waitress from Porkins, where they'd had the excellent nerf steaks. So she was following Jaxxon into the unknown, too.
"It's nice to meet you, too, Meena. Nice to meet you all." Aayla's head-tails were betraying excitement, her master noticed. Kriff, she acted as if this was going to be a giant slumber party!-- Well, maybe that wasn't so far off, if you discounted the rest of the mission... The all-too familiar feeling of being the older and wiser head in a crowd was creeping over him again. He really hated to ruin the mood with practicalities.
Before he could bring any of them up, the women began a low chorus of, "there--Jaxxon--" "Jaxxon..." "Jaxxon!" "It's Jaxxon," etc., and all lekku began to point to his new partner, who was slouching in with yet another Twi'lek girl, this one a pleasant shade of violet. As if he were a vid star. Force. But the lanky kid had his green ears slanted back and was grinning with all his teeth. And Quin was glad to see him, himself; so let him bask in a little feminine adulation.
Actually, among this multi-colored party, his red suit and green fur looked almost commonplace. He sank to a stool in the midst of them. "Hello all, Leni, Lana, Oni, Meena, is it Niala? and Aayla, and Kim-- This is Rena, who wants to come but is still undecided. Ahem.
"As my partners have generously footed the bill for basic rations for us all, for twice as far as Ryloth, we can leave as soon as--- tomorrow! And now, before I buy you all a drink, let us press hands." Aayla watched, fascinated, as the large, soft green hands emerged from the spacer gauntlets.
"Do you follow this custom , too, Master Kim?" asked Lenara.
"Yes, I decided I should follow it, too," he said, with a smile. So she held out her palm to him, noticing that only his reddish fingers protruded from his wrist wrappings. She had heard that Kiffars learned through touch, like the Lepi.
He took her orange, pointed fingers to his, matching each to the other with precision, thumb to little finger and so on, so only the tips made contact. Whatever it was he gleaned from her, it made him smile. "Well met, Mistress Lenara, " he said. Yes, she knew she was incomparable.
Her Lana came forward next, to offer her peachy palm to him. Blushing again. May she never lose the knack. She, too, earned a smile.
Meanwhile, Jaxxon was doing the same with Niala and Oni. They knew one another, of course, but he was testing for himself their motives and resolve. All must live together in harmony aboard the Rabbit's Foot, which was not over-large. He and green Oni embraced for quite a long time. Lenara knew she had been doing other, boring work, and her scrawniness showed it had not suited her. Niala had complained about how she never sang anymore. Maybe she would begin again, among the stars.
Rena had been looking on, a little enviously, and also peeking around her, obviously looking for her idiot sister. She had warned Jaxxon about that one! Oh, now, there she went, running to what looked like a brown smudge against the lighter brown of the wall.
"Lila!" she cried, and scooped up the girl slumped there.
The white portions of Lila's outfit were no longer white, and large bruises were blotching her arms and face. Finger marks were visible upon one cheek. Even her neck was bruised. But she pushed her weeping sister away.
"Quit fussing, Rena; it looks worse than it is. I got another client or two after the Nikto. And now I'm free." She fumbled weakly at her waist for the credit scanner, and Rena got it out for her. It was true. Her debt to Bib Fortuna was paid.
Quin had dropped Meena's hand and followed Rena into the shadows. A quick Force scan confirmed what the younger girl was saying. They had been rough customers, but she hadn't cared, because she was stoned almost out of her wits on spice. Lack of resistance had saved her from more serious injuries. And any insult had left no impression. This one thought herself less than the spittle and other substances with which she had been smeared. Luckily they had paid in advance.
Her violet sister continued to cry. "Oh, Lila, come with me and Jaxxon. Please. Let me at least give you a bath at Lenara's. Lila?"
The plain, little brown Twi'lek opened her plain, brown eyes for a moment. "Whatever," she said, and shut them again.
Jaxxon had come over. "Whatever it is, then," he said, and gathered her up in his long, lean arms like a load of dirty laundry. He looked over at Lenara. "Okay, Leni?" Her eyes glinted hard for a moment, but then she nodded. The whole company of them proceeded to her home on Tatooine, down several dusty streets to a courtyard, up some stairs, to where Lana opened the door. "I will tell Jaba to send up a case," she volunteered in a soft voice, and dashed off.
The accoutrements of Lady Lenara's domination trade-- cuffs, scourges, whips, chains, clamps, racks-- were all around, but Jaxxon bypassed them all to put Lila into the large bathing tub. He took off his glove and pressed his hand to her forehead, as if checking for fever, as Rena tenderly undressed her. They both knew what he was really doing.
Jaxxon's voice shook a little as he took his hand away. "See she doesn't drown herself," was all he said, before he sat himself back against the wall to think over what he'd found.
Lila had nearly no self. What sense of herself she had, she hated. Her idea of pleasure was the absence of pain. She did not dance, or sing, or in other ways entertain or entice. Her major appeal was her fear. Her cringing and cowering and flinching were what appealed, and what fed her hate, of herself and of those who hurt her. When she was numbed by the spice, she was able to appear refractory, careless and nonchalant. Things others did for pleasure only mystified her. Even her sister's loving arms were an absence of hurt, not a true joy. Holy hutch. Twi'leks were a screwed up race, and no mistake.
Quin joined him against the wall. "Talk to me, Jaxxon."
The Lepi youth looked at his partner, green ears drooping. "I don't know if this one is worth the trouble or not. She's in bad shape. Still a minor for another week, according to her sister. Look at her-- she gets no pleasure out of being a pleasure worker, but it's all she knows. I don't want her being miserable all over my ship." He sighed. "But I went and invited Rena very strongly to join us. Her, I like."
Quinlan Vos decided it was time to give another lesson in mental shielding. He reached up, and laid his palm gently against one green, velvety cheekbone. Jaxxon blinked his absurdly long lashes, and let the impressions flow between them.
For a change, they didn't think about sex at all. Quin showed his student ways around it; by far it was the biggest part of him, but it was grounded in more abstract forms of love, that somehow managed to let him ignore his own body. They were blindingly obvious, now that he knew them. They just didn't occur to the average Lepi.
Together the partners made compassionate inventory of the women who had pressed their hands, trusting them with their lives. Niala, so skilled at painting herself and others, so broad-minded about beings. Oni, the musical, returning to the pleasure trade because the life of a menial killed her joy. Meena, whose glitteryll-wiped memories began only a year ago in Jabba's palace. Lana, the darling apprentice of her auntie Lenara, the incomparable. And affectionate Rena.
And Lila, the puzzle. They had to stop here-- so much of her actual self was only visible through her sister's impressions of her. So much was crumpled into invisibility within her.
Quin spoke aloud. "She must choose for herself whether to even keep alive. She lives now only out of a sense of obligation to her sister. Let's let her at least finish her bath!"
"Sounds like a plan," said Jaxxon.
Rena was helping the subject of their thoughts out of the rather mucky water, letting it drain, and shepherding the girl toward the fresher. The browner sister seemed totally unembarrassed by nakedness before the others, though she briefly tried to hide a rather large bite-mark from her sister.
Lenara intercepted them on their way, evidently laying down some sort of ultimatum. Though Lila's scarred back was to them, Rena seemed to react with gratitude, hugging the elder Twi'lek joyfully.
The other females had been conversing with one another in Twi'lek, obviously about the young lady in the tub, with Aayla as an interested listener. Now she hurried over to Quin and Jaxxon.
"The others have decided to do the coming of age ritual for Lila immediately. It is called Sisters Blessing, and it is for all females. I will be very interested to see this!" And she darted away again.
Meanwhile, Oni and Meena had scrubbed out the pieces of Lila's clothing, and hung them on a pole out the window to dry. Lana returned, with a grumpy looking Rodian bearing a case of cheap bubble-wine, which Jaxxon had to pay for.
He was feeling a little superfluous, actually, as the chatter was all in Twi'lek. What if they ever decided to mutiny? Naw, they loved their Bunny... But they were ignoring the males right now, busying themselves with arranging the room, finding glasses for the bubbly, and little things to eat with it. Niala went into the fresher with the birthday girl, and didn't come out.
He looked over at Quin, who had stayed squatting upon his heels against the far wall. " I guess we are going to witness some quaint Twi'lek folk-ways this evening. Maybe I ought to send out for kabobs."
"Sounds like a plan," said Master Vos.
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