Fifteen minutes later, my steak was gone and I was getting restless.
What the hell was taking Loki so long? She was usually out watching
her customers.... in case one of them tried to leave without settling
their tab. It happened. But not too often, especially when they saw
who (and what) the owner was. Wookiees tended to rip arms off first
and ask questions later. So, naturally, I expected to see my friend
out and about, silently threatening her patrons. Strange that there
was no sign of her.
But, I wasn't worried just yet. I'll give her five more minutes, I
thought. Then I'm going back to look.
Sitting back, I stared at my empty glass. I decided to order another
drink while I waited.
"Droid, I'd like to order something a little stronger. What would you
suggest?"
"The house special is a Tarellian Sunset. Would you like to try that?"
"That will be fine. Thank you." The droid looked surprised at my being
civil towards it.
"Excellent choice, madam." The droid pulled several bottles off the
shelf behind it and carefully set them down on the counter before me.
It expertly started to mix the various ingredients in a tall glass. I
sat and watched, amazed. This droid certainly knew its stuff. With a
little flourish, the silver droid/bartender quickly lit the drink on
fire and stepped back.
The flames went out slowly. Beautiful. It really did look like a
sunset. I took a small sip. It was truly delicious. As I was about
to take a full drink, there was a familiar howl amid the sound of
breaking wood behind me.
"Oh dear... not again." The droid murmured.
I turned around. There was Lokida, her silver-tipped pelt gleaming
in the light, breaking a chair over a Rodian's head. I winced. Ouch.
That looked like it'd hurt. Thirty seconds later, it was over. Loki
came over and sat down next to me. The 3PO tottered off to serve a
Twi-lek male at the other end of the bar.
"Hello, Lokida.... How've you been?" I greeted her.
She roared softly, shaking her fist at me.
"What! I am not!" I said indignantly, setting my Sunset down, "I'm
here, aren't I?"
A low growl and bared teeth.
"I haven't! I've just been busy."
A disgusted snort.
I was about to go into a detailed story of exactly why I was there
when I noticed her shaking with silent laughter. I could feel heat
radiating up my neck.
Loki, looking extremely amused, reached over and ruffled my hair.
I sighed, picked up my Sunset again, and decided to change the subject.
"So... what was that all about?" I motioned behind me at the droids
sweeping up broken pieces of wood. "Tried to leave without paying the
bill, huh?"
Loki laughed and started telling the whole story. It was pretty funny,
the way she told it. I started to relax a little. Maybe it wasn't so
bad, coming home, I sleepily thought to myself. I yawned. I don't know.
Maybe I shouldn't have had that Sunset... Maybe...
