Paramount Discretion

[Shay Cormac]

Shay felt his feet hit the ground once again. Not much felt different from what his feet could tell him, but when he opened his eyes, Shay was greeted by once again, more surprises. Shay's mouth remained gaped open, observing all this new city had to offer, and what it offered was nothing like Shay could ever predict, let alone imagine. All around him, flying vehicle-like contraptions, huge intricate metallic buildings. Not only that, but the civilians seeming to walk around the streets were... very diverse, to say the least. Obviously, Shay looked out of place in this town, everyone else wearing very different clothing in terms of fashion sense, and that made Shay an easy target to be stared at. He could handle it, of course, but it didn't make it any less uncomfortable for Shay.

Avoiding the embarrassment of asking a local what exactly was happening, Shay decided he'd roam the streets a while to get a feel for the place instead. Much to his dismay, Shay already found multiple civilians looking on at him, trying to hold back giggles. Breathing heavily, Shay puffed out a bit of air stuck in his chest, before popping up his collar, walking onward to the city in front of him. Taking in his surroundings with the least amount of confusion Shay could let sink into him, he noticed this might not have been Earth he was walking on. Well, that much was obvious now that Shay thought about it, he got sucked out of his own dimension, but... this wasn't anything like he had seen previously, not even close. Everything here just seemed alien, literally. Some of the "people" here weren't even people, strange appendages, apparel, and other features that weren't possible on human bodies. Shay didn't mind them being around, he was just very intrigued at the whole ordeal, making him think even more than he was before.

As much as Shay enjoyed a little time to think for himself, here even he could admit it wasn't doing much for him other than procrastinating, in a sense. Looking upwards at a bundle of signs on a wall that thankfully happened to be in English, Shay read the direction to a local tavern, and made haste towards the building. It didn't take long before Shay recognized the shape of the building, seemingly in contrast to the rest. A tavern is a tavern, after all. Walking to the front of the building itself, Shay could already see some more threatening looking individuals leaning against the walls, eyeballing Shay carefully. Shay gulped a bit, opening the door present to him, quickly leaving the conspicuously menacing fellows to do whatever it is they were doing. Just as expected, as soon as he opened the door itself, Shay's ears were greeted with the wondrous sounds of playful music and the conversations of multiple citizens, although his excitement was quickly turned to genuine interest when he actually listened in, not recognizing the type of music playing at all, neither most of the languages the locals were speaking.

Nobody seemed to notice Shay, thankfully. As much as he liked them, taverns were admittedly usually not full of swell people to be around. Looking through the building's interior, Shay could easily spot the bartender behind a counter. Going over to... her, yes, definitely a her judging by body shape, Shay had hoped this one was friendly enough to make a nice conversation to. Make a friendly face, check. Walk confidently, check. Find it in your guts to talk to an alien in which you could barely describe the looks of, Shay needed to work on that one a bit. Checking his flanks, Shay put his hand on the counter, grabbing the attention of the bartender herself, whose eyebrow was already raised at the sight of Shay. Putting aside the mug she was cleaning off, the bartender came up to Shay, leaning in just as much as he was, indicating she was already waiting for a conversation starter by winking.

"I... get the feeling you might not have all the time in the world, but could you go about answering a couple of questions for me?" Shay looked into the strange woman's eyes, the latter still smiling. Shay was relieved she took kindly to his interruption of her work, but even then, he couldn't help but feel a bit irked by the whole thing. "Well, honey... You look a bit out of place, here. Do you happ'n to be one of them Prime fellas that stop by every now and again?" The bartender flirtatiously asked Shay, raising her chin up, seemingly amused already. "I'd believe that's what they call me, correct. In that case, wh-" Shay began to say, before being stopped abruptly by the bartender, raising her hand, to which Shay took the cue to stop talking, trying not to cause any trouble. "Now, now, I know what you're gonna be say'n, sweetums, no need to talk no more, now." The bartender opened her eyes, her smile widening playfully.

Shay stood up straight, nodding his head. He took his hand off the counter to fold his arms and listen in to whatever this girl had to offer him in as many words as he could take in. The bartender began speaking, looking around the tavern, masking the words in her sentence with the music and noise of the stage and the citizens respectfully. "You... You're in Coruscant, as you prob'ly already know... Since yer a knew Prime here, and trust me, I've met 'em before, you might wanna go back and direct yourself at a local inn to sleep in for the night, hun. Either that, or go 'round the city a while, and get you're surroundin's straightened up, 'cause from what I hear, this gotta be one of the most important places you can be in the Omniverse, deary." The bartender continued looking around, hiding the suspicions of Shay being a Prime by seeming to ignore him slightly. It was enough to work, as anybody who Shay noticed was trying to eavesdrop previously had given up. The woman continued to talk as Shay played along.

"Now, you could also be waitin' for other Primes t' show up, but try not to cause any harm to 'em, dear. You'll only attract the attention of Judge Dredd, and lemme tell ya, you ain't wantin' to meet him any time soon, mintloaf. Practically leads and keeps the Empire police forces standin', and trust me when I say the'll knock you out quick, honeybuns. My best advice is still t' stay here in the city, lay low a while, and then go off explorin', like y'all Primes do." The woman cued Shay that she had finished by giving him another wink, to which Shay replied mouthing the words thank you as eligible as he could. Shay was definitely entertained with the girl's strange accent and tendencies for nicknames, which seemed fitting for a bartender. Looking back at the woman, Shay put his hand back on the counter, before nodding at the front door, telling her that he was leaving to avoid any unnecessary conflict with the drunken tavern regulars. As Shay turned away to leave, the bartender placed her palm on the top of Shay's gloved hand, much to his surprise. "By the way, dear... Did I catch your name? I'll be listenin' in, keep track of you in case you need it. Y'all Primes need guidance, and I can't give my real name right now for legal reasons, but you can always come back to this ol' place if you ever be needin' some information, 'cause I got my sources."

Shay looked behind him once more, smiling. Nodding his head, he bowed slightly, trying to flatter to girl, which seemed to work as he looked up to find the alien woman blushing a bit. "My name is Shay. Shay Patrick Cormac." With that being said, Shay quickly spun around and left the tavern just as discreet as he entered in.