"Shut up, Trych," he said under his breath."I'm just glad I have a droid lover for a brother."
Trychon was about to retort when they noticed the tall blonde human walking toward them. He approached the table and stuck his hand out in greeting. "Alucard, Vandelay, Great to see you two, boys!"
Trychon stood and returned the handshake. "It's good to see you again as well, Mr. Helwae."
Helwae sat down and ordered a drink from the waitress who had appeared. "And whatever these gents want is on my tab," he told her.
Once the waitress had brought their order Raezyr spoke up. "Frankly, Mr. Helwae..."
"Zhan," the older man corrected. "You guys call me Zhan."
"Very well," Raezyr said, continuing. "Zhan, we're a bit surprised that one, you knew we were back on planet, and two, invited us out."
Trychon shot his brother a worried glance. The candidate sitting across from them could be a huge contact if he were to win his election, and it wouldn't be prudent to offend the man.
"That's what I like about you boys," Helwae said with a chuckle. "Get boring old business out of the way so we can get down to the fun."
He took a long pull from his glass before he answered the questions. "I've had my people watching out for you to return. Your generous donation to my campaign is almost single-handedly responsible for putting me in the lead. I'm way ahead in all the polls right now, and this is just a small token of my appreciation for you boys."
Helwae turned his attention to an alluring set of identical twin blue Twi'leki dancers who had approached their table. "Ah, this evening's entertainment has arrived," he said. "Dell and Frell Vanna. The two most beautiful dancers in this sector. Normally they're booked well in advance, but their owner is a personal friend of mine and I pulled some strings," Helwae said with a wink.
The drinks flowed freely for most of the evening and all three men enjoyed the the down time as well as the entertainment. The Vanna twins were indeed quite popular as attested by the fact that many other patrons, many of whom where unknown to Helwae, Trychon or Raezyr, attempted to join them; They were all turned away.
Eventually, the manager had to call in a Gamorrean bouncer to keep the other patrons at bay. The guard and famous dancers drew a lot of attention their way, and both Trychon and Raezyr were glad for the dark recesses of the alcove where their table was located, keeping the other customers from being able to recognize who was sitting there.
One of the tricks the two Sith had learned was to use the Force to process the alcohol in their system faster when they wanted to, allowing them to sober up very quickly, or to maintain a comfortable level of inebriation, no matter how many beverages they consumed. They found it amusing that Helwae was attempting to keep up with them, and they soon found out just how handy the ability could be.
The Sith allowed Helwae to do most of the talking, and the political candidate was happy to oblige. The drunker he became, the more freely he talked. "I love you guys... you know that?" Helwae told them.
"We're pretty fond of you as well, Zhan," Trychon replied. He figured it was better to go along than to remind him that they barely knew each other.
Helwae continued, barely noticing that Trychon had said anything at all. "It's just too bad this whole frackin' thing is gonna come to a crashing halt, ya know?"
"What 'whole thing?'" Raezyr asked, intrigued by the vague comment. Both brothers could tell there had been some underlying issue that was worrying Helwae and they figured they were about to find out what it might be.
"A'right... I'm gonna tell you guys a secret. My campaign manager tol' me not to say anything to anyone, but I love you guys.. you guys are my guys, ya know?" He leaned closely over the table before continuing. "When I was you guys's age... I killed some people."
"Things happen, and that was a long time ago," Trychon noted.
"No, no, no, man," Helwae said. "I crashed a speeder and killed the girl that was with me and two people in another speeder."
"Like I said, accidents happen and..." Trychon began, but was interrupted.
"You don't understan'... I was drunk, guys," Helwae explained. "An' I thought it was gone. Disappeared. My dad, who owned the brewery you guys bought from me at that time, paid off the families of those who died, and then a few well placed bribes... and 'Poof!' The whole incident... gone."
"So, no problem, right?" Raezyr asked. "Even if someone talks now, there's no proof, right?"
"Tha's jus' it," Helwae went on. "The incumbent for the Senate seat I'm running for somehow came up with th' case file. He knows everything and has judicial reports to back it all up. He contacted me yesterday and tol' me I have three days to withdraw from the race or he goes public." Helwae banged his forehead on the table in frustration.
During the time the candidate had been relating his story, Trychon had sobered up and quickly formulated a plan. "Zhan, what if I told you that my business partner and I could make this whole thing go away again? It can go away, and you would be completely unconnected to it's disappearance. What would you say?"
"How?" the older statesman asked.
"We have many contacts in all levels of society," Trychon explained. "Let's just leave it at that."
Helwae was ecstatic, and the rest of the evening kept thanking them profusely and telling them how much he loved them.
Later on their way back to the Farrian Arms, Raezyr turned to his brother. "Why the Hell did you get us mixed up in some political entanglement? I hate politics."
"Raez, like it or not, with power comes politics and vise versa. We're just scratching the surface of our eventual influence now... but that doesn't mean we can't get a foot up when the opportunity arises."
"Fine. That doesn't mean I have to like it though."
"No. No it doesn't, brother. You may be surprised though." Trychon turned and smiled at his brother, a little extra bounce in his step.
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