(Pregame) Look Down, Look Down...

[Varina Ordo]

Living in the street wasn't so bad. Varina didn't get the whole whining all the slummers got themselves into. After all, she had a perfect good sandwich to eat.

She took her first bite. It was stale, could use more salt, but it was food in her belly. Food that she had earned for herself!

[Roxi]

Roxi did not have a sandwich. Even so, she was not whining either. Much. After all, she wasn't even hungry... yet. Sooner or later that *would* become a problem, though. Thankfully she had enough credits to her name to take care of that when the time'd come. Wouldn't be *great* food, but well... probably still better than what she grew up on.

"Kriff off!" the open-stall owner said. Some junk merchant buying and selling the same. She might have credits, but that didn't mean she wasn't in the market to get some *more* credits. Didn't know what he was missing; just because that salvaged hydrospoon was dented up didn't mean he shouldn't buy it! It was still functional! Well, no, it wasn't... she knew that, but damn it... she was hoping he'd buy it off her anyway.



"Okay, whatever old man." Roxi moved away, pulling her hood up, muttering to herself as she walked past the sandwich eating person. "Maybe it's time to try the old violence thing again..."

[Tosath Nazora]

The roads he took often went through the slums. He didn't mind. A good number of long time residents would recognize him as the doc from Fa'ka Parka so for the most part he rarely got hassled by anyone living here. He may wear a KSF uniform, but they knew he was a medical officer and not an enforcer of law and order.

Overhearing the junk vendor shouting at the young lady, he looked at him and shook his head with a frown, as if to say I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed. Not that the man would give a damn, but it made the Arkanian feel sad seeing disrespect lobbed about in the community.

[Varina Ordo]

"Violence solves everything," Varina commented with a mighty munch of her sandwich. She needed to, after all, to get past the rigid staleness.

"Maybe not everything. But enough things." She looked over to the vendor. "He have something you want?"

Her eyes went over to the uniformed guy. A brief realization came that he was some sort of medical man and not here to bust anyone. At least, if he was actually that thing and not playing people for fools.

[Roxi]

Roxi stopped, looking at Varina a little awkwardly. "Uhhh..."

She should learn to keep quiet sometimes, instead of musing out loud.

"...well if I was gonna use violence... it'd be on someone richer."

And then she noticed the uniform nearby, and shut up.

[Tosath Nazora]

"That crotchety vendor doesn't deserve your business or attention," he says to the two ladies. "Anyone that doesn't show respect shouldn't get a moment of your time."

[Varina Ordo]

"Ah, the spoils," Varina murmured. She glanced at the peddler and then nodded. "He has little but perhaps has his pride. You could take that from him."

She blinked, not expecting the uniform guy to come over. "We can't let people push us around!"

[Tosath Nazora]

"You can't, that's true. But did he actually push you around? Or did he just act like an ass? Find his competitor, deal with them, send business to them, hurt his business by letting folks know he's no good to deal with and improve your lot with someone who's more respectful. Let him wallow in his miserable junk shop. Next time he shouts for help, he'll only have himself to blame when nobody wants to help him."

[Roxi]

"Wow, that's pretty dark," she said, and that was saying something coming from her. "He's just a poor ass who didn't want to buy a perfectly good-if-slightly used hydrospoon, no need to destroy him over it. If he was rich though, then it'd be different."

[Varina Ordo]

Varina frowned. These two didn't seem to understand strength! How could people know if you're strong if people don't buy your junk? They should be happy to buy the junk!

"Why did you speak of violence then?" she asked, now confused.

[Tosath Nazora]

"That's the market doing what it does, he won't go out of business tomorrow. If his business suffers because of his attitude, he'll change his attitude or go out of business. A good vendor treats their patrons with respect. When they fail to do that, they are asking to be treated the same. We live in a community and we need to take care of and watch out for each other. If he fails at that, then he reaps what he sows in the neighborhood. Maybe he treats other patrons with more respect and won't lose their business, but if he doesn't then he's only made his own bed to lay in."

"And using force to make him do what you want... that's likely to bring you more trouble than him."

[Roxi]

"Well... I wasn't talking about him when I said. I mean, like I said, it'd be different if he were rich. I don't have any problems taking stuff from rich people. They all stole it themselves anyway."

It was *probably* fine to say that much, at least. In front of the uniform.

[Varina Ordo]

"Okay..." Varina said, not really getting where the uniform was coming from. She wasn't some little kid to be taught stuff!

Even if she was on the shorter side.

"Oh. So you used to fight but not anymore?" Kamda folk were weird.

[Tosath Nazora]

"I can't condone stealing from anyone... no matter how much they can definitely afford to lose," he says with a smirk. "All I can say on that matter is that I know I wouldn't lose any sleep as long as nobody got injured. And if they can still afford a fancy penthouse and the latest speeder model, they haven't really been hurt."

"And I've never been a fighter. I just apply stims and meds to people after they've roughed each other up. I don't like seeing anyone getting a beating."

[Roxi]

"But if they stole it first, is it really stealing if we take it? Sounds more like liberating their ill-gotten gains," she said, to use a phrase she's heard more often than she put a number to.

She looked at the man then, as he talked about stims and meds, something pinging in the back of her brain, though it wasn't clear.

"Is there like, a rule, that says there have to be a certain number of doctors with white hair around?"

Roxi hadn't met a *lot* of doctors; but white-haired ones seemed to make up the single largest subgroup of them, in her encounters.

[Varina Ordo]

"You own what you take," she said, "They own it for now, until you take it back." Was a simple way to look at it, at least.

"You're asking about the white hair and not the eyes?" Varina asked with a big smirk. She'd let the Arkanian have his say, though. She had heard of his people before at school... one of the few times she had paid attention.

[Jyrvess Ertil]

Maybe paranoia was getting the better of her, but Jyrvess could have swore someone had been following her. She had taken a risk earlier at the spaceport. Security was still too tight, and her wallet too light for now. Of course the overall Imperial presence was minimal compared to the last few worlds...so maybe she could finally catch her breath.

These thoughts and of course here completely random path through the slums, practically confusing to her...let alone any purser. Of course supposed cleverness has a way of outwitting itself.

Which is why when she turned back from looking over her shoulder while stepping out into the main thorough fare....Jyvress found herself in the middle of a conversation. For a moment she stood there looking them over, datapad in hand and largely blank expression on her face. Then as if a switched was flipped.

"Oh....ah....sorry how careless of me." She had though to try and look calm, but this was a dangerous part of town and Etril looked anything but dangerous. So instead she just tried to look more like 'tourist, nervous, about to be robbed, eeeeeeeeeeeek'

[Tosath Nazora]

"No, but I can imagine that there's more than a few doctors out there that are Arkanian like me or just elderly to the point that their hair has gone white," he replies with a smirk. "One of the nice things about being a doctor is we tend to know what's good or bad for us and we try not to get into fights. End up with longer lifespans than most thanks to that. So white hair isn't too uncommon even among non-Arkanian doctors."

The new arrival, get's a nod. "Don't worry yourself." He was wearing a KSF uniform, but carried no weapon.

[Roxi]

"Huh," she shrugged off the ping, "if you say so."

At which point a tourist practically bumped into the small group. Not that Roxi was the wisened local who could look down on tourists.

She stared at the woman, not really sure what; if anything; to say. This wasn't the sort of social context she'd gotten used to.

[Varina Ordo]

Varina blinked at the newcomer. She then glanced at Roxi, gave a small wink, and then smiled back at Jyrvess. "Whatchu looking for? I can help you get around safely, all at the cost of a few credits."

The young girl held out her hand with a big grin.