Tony was a bit more used to the aridness of the planet than some of the others if only because he’d ended up, by chance, on a few desert planets during his adolescence. But he hadn’t, by any means, had to rough it on any of those planets. Traditionally, a certain amount of luxury had always followed him. But not now.
He started to look about and take in his surroundings. Surely, he had spent enough time in his university years in port cities such as this one, but he also knew to keep his guard up and avoid getting comfortable. Perhaps that’s why he jumped slightly when Rendyl tugged on his sleeve. Nevertheless, he quickly caught himself and gave a slightly crooked smile back at her.
”You can tag along, yeah,” he replied softly. He inherently furrowed his own brow back at her, mirroring her before he softened his own expression as though to mentally soothe her. He wondered now what her own background was in the matter of apprehending criminals. Now that he thought it, she probably didn’t have much of a background at all. Or perhaps she had yet another surprise in store for the crew.
The Phoenix. For a joint labeled the “best bar in the galaxy”, he certainly hadn’t heard of it before. But in his past life, he certainly would not have found himself in a port city this…grungy. S07-1 had character. Yes, that was the word. Character. He smiled slightly to himself at Raymond’s usage of the Earth idiom but otherwise passively took in Raymond’s speech as he tried to orient himself in this world. The longer he spent on the ship, the harder he found it to reorient himself. As he let himself focus on the words around him, he began to pick up a medley of languages and, within them, accents. Few understood the beauty of it and fewer still on this ship: that was, of course, why he had his job in the crew.
But he was forced back into the room when the smell of tequila and sweat and whatnot hit him like a brick wall. It brought him back in time to hear Astrid’s comment and give a quick laugh in response.
”I’ll do my best to deliver, sweetheart,” he quipped, stuffing his scarf into his back pocket and adjusting the collar of his partially-unbuttoned shirt.
”Best of luck, eh?” He cast a quick glance over his shoulder at Rendyl before sliding his way deftly towards the bar with a hand trailing behind him as though to lend some guidance to the woman as she likely followed. He’d led them to the bar, and once there, he slipped a few credits into his hand and waved down a passing bartender.
”A shot of whatever the hell it is that’s stinking up the place, please,” he requested as he slid some of the credits across the counter. As he waited for the drink, he turned to the Satasi woman beside him and slid the remaining credits her way across the top of the bar. He moved his body in this motion and slid himself closer to her.
”Do you have a moment, darling?” His tongue rolled with her native language, one he’d picked up quite early in life. He’d known most of his life that gossip passed quickly and effective through the sex workers of a port city. If there were an assassin in their midst, she’d certainly have some sort of a lead as to his location.