Of Love and War: Us Against the World

Repercussions

AN: Sorry I'm so slow on the updates right now--I'm also binge watching a bunch of the shows and such to refresh the memory and catch back up, some of which I'm trying to read/watch before I reach certain chapters for the fanfic so I have the right grasp of what's going on. Hence the slower pace. That and I'm currently only averaging about 1,500 words a day, roughly. Much less than I used to write, I'm still warming back up.

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*Zelina's POV*

"If you keep this foolishness up, I'm going to have to hire a bouncer to save me the time throwing you out."

Zelina twirled her blaster with the safety on around one finger, gaze cold on the three slavers she'd just kicked out of her cantina. They were in various positions of sprawled in the dirt in front of her while she leaned in the doorway, making sure she made it clear that they were not coming back in by spinning the blaster around to point at them when one of them started to stand with a lean in her direction.

"You know, it's quite pathetic that none of you can take a hint. Or read, for that matter. The one big rule at the top of my list no one has gotten away with it and an entire planet of scum and villainy, yet you empty brained fools keep coming back to my establishment to do the one business I don't allow. If you keep this up, I'll have to update the rules—offenders of Rule Number One will be shot upon offense."

She could feel the hate radiating off them as they clambered back to their feet even with her senses in the Force muffled to the bare minimum—she'd probably be able to feel it even without the Force.

"Get out of here. Find somewhere else to pollute, before I decide your tenacious efforts are more annoying than amusing," She warned before they could say anything else.

There were the usual curses in a handful of languages besides Basic, dirty looks and a few obscene gestures and threats, but they left, allowing Zelina to step back into her cantina and slip her blaster-safety on once again-back into its holster.

The cantina had gone back to normal by the time she was back inside, Ameenah back in her usual perch where she could observe the entirety of the floor. Zelina headed to the counter to speak with Benon about where they were in supply for the day before she went back to working the floor, but Ameenah shifted from her usual place to stand beside Zelina.

"You should really be a bit more careful about how you handle those slavers. Keep it business, don't spend too much time insulting them," Ameenah suggested, tail flicking in agitation behind her. "I'm not saying they don't deserve it, just, some of them have powerful people they work for, and they could decide to get vengeful one day."

"I'm aware of the risks, Ameenah—and I appreciate the concern. But they've been persistent recently, trying more and more to get me to back down and let them do their business. If I give ground in any way, they'll take that as weakness. As foolish as such an assumption would be, I don't want to have to deal with emboldened attempts. I need to keep as hard on this point as I've been from the start."

There was a low growl of discontent in Ameenah's throat at her statement, and Benon shifted uncomfortably. "There's nothing wrong with having morals, Zel, as long as you don't get foolish enough about them to get yourself killed."

Zelina looked at Benon, who had a flash of dread in his eyes as if he wasn't particularly fond of the thought that she was turning her attention to him. "Benon—how often do you have to deal with slavers when I'm not here?"

Benon straightened as a customer down the bar held up a hand to get his attention, and Zelina waited patiently as Benon temporarily broke away from the conversation to serve the customer their requested drink. Ameenah's tail swished a bit more rapidly for a few seconds.