The dimly lit cantina was almost entirely deserted. Smoke swirled in the near stagnant air from a trio of ithorians seated in a corner. They were smoking from an elaborate device in a the center of their table. The device bubbled more loudly than the low sub sonic tones of their non-humanoid communication.
The bartender was a grizzled, gray-furred bothan with a myriad of scars and a patch over one eye. The bothan was cleaning his teeth with a large knife and occasionally drinking from a tall glass of corellian ale.
Aside from the ithorians the only other patrons were two humanoids sitting on stools at the far end of the bar.
One of the humanoids was a tall, lithe, and dark-haired human with angular features. He shook a large bottle with his gloved finger over the top. The mechanical agitation reactivated the chemical reaction within and a thin layer of ice formed around the outside of the bottle. He took took a deep swig and then exhaled with an unsurprised grimace. A cloud of ice crystals poured from his breath.
The dark-haired human wore the typical garb of freelance mercenary: battle-scarred light armor, a filthy gray scarf hanging around his neck, and probably everything he owned strapped somewhere on his body. The most notable of his possessions was an archaic scattergun with a sawed-off barrel holstered at his thigh.
The filthy merc was also covered in blood that was in various phases of clotting and drying. His left eye was bruised and swollen shut. He moved stifly and painfully, like he had just been in a severe speeder accident
The blonde female sitting next to the filthy merc seemed entirely out of place in the grimy cantina. She sat with perfect posture, wearing a black long-sleeved dress with almost no skirt that hugged her long, flawless legs. She looked like she belonged in an upper city nightclub on Coruscant.
The female humanoid's eyes were almost entirely obscured by a huge mass of golden blonde curls that fell on her shoulders like a mantle.
"Sathik, you need medical treatment," the blonde spoke in a low and judgmental tone.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Sathik scoffed mischievously and took another drink. The merc gave a long sigh filled with ice crystals. He slouched contentedly in the barstool and leaned heavily on the bar.
"Sathik--" The blonde started.
"Sssshhhhhh." The merc put a single black-gloved finger over her full lips, "I'm drinking, Lola." He took another drink and this time had almost no grimace at all.
Lola forcefully moved the merc's gloved hand away from her face,"Sathik, you have *brain* damage."
"Probably why I'm feeling nostalgic." Sathik set the bottle down heavily with another sigh. He looked over the empty cantina with the good eye that wasn't swollen shut, "This place used to be full of the meanest bounty hunters, mercs, and assassins this side of the galaxy."
Lola inclined her head and her giant mass of yellow curls shifted as she listened to the reminiscing merc.
"You wouldn't believe what we used to get up too," Sathik grinned , "Did I ever tell you I worked with a *Jedi* once?"
Lola blinked her thick black lashes once without signs of being impressed.
"This is the kind of place where anything could happen..." Sathik glanced at the door and then downed another swig from the bottle.