"This place is amazing, Ben,"Jesse breathed, her eyes wide and glinting with the reflected light of the holograms and flashing signs and the dazzling bursts from the machines as poor saps bought into the fantasy of making it big with one good push of a button.

Ben, for his part, saw the dark alleys and stone streets in the flash and glare as his eyes adjusted to the massive difference between the outside and the inside of the casino.

"It's somethin' all right," he answered.

"Cooman playa!" One of the machines activated right next to him, a stylized and sultry Twi'lek looking at him with a heart pounding smile and hooded eyes.

He yelped and jumped away. Jesse's voice rang out again, but the words didn't pierce the drone of his fear. She turned and continued on, and he followed, the bright shining lights and crowds of people sending shivers down his spine and a cold sweat drip down the back of his neck. Jesse, for her part, seemed to drink it all in and become more energized, seeing success and wealth in the tiling 'neath their feet. He didn't begrudge her for that at all; it was the way she was, and that was all there was to it at the end of the day. What gave her comfort and joy weren't what did for him, and if it were otherwise...

Well, he'd certainly prefer that, but then chances were that he'd never have met her in the first place.

Wait, was there a downside to all of this?

While he was lost in his thoughts, he managed to keep enough focus to follow Jesse to another turbolift, followed by two pairs of elites with a single man who looked noticeably rougher than they. One of the pairs were older with greying hair and glinting accessories everywhere. The other pair were younger, a man probably no more than five years older than him with striking yes and a face that seemed like it'd been sculpted from clay for the very purpose of showing the 'ideal rich human'. At his side was a human woman, with red hair, red lips, brown eyes, and a dress that was so dark green that it seemed to be black. The wealthies (as he dubbed them in his head) glanced over at them, and the younger man glanced up and down Jesse before returning to his conversation with the older couple, who seemed more than a bit intoxicated.

"Well, I'll be," the rougher man, obviously a bodyguard, said. "If it ain't Ben Merasska in the flesh."

"Mweh?" Ben answered, glancing up at the man.

"Oh, you know this man, Kerrick?" the younger man asked. The rough man looked at Jesse and then back at Ben, a smile that carried an odd weight with it on his face.

"Used to, sir. Flew in the same circles, you could say. Heard he died, actually. Around Yavin." Kerrick answered. "Didn't really talk to each other much, but seein' him now makes me think we weren't that different after all. Where are you headed?"

"Uh, just doin' some business," Ben said. "Then we'll see."

Kerrick said nothing for a moment, before nodding. "Come find me after, and we'll talk a bit, yeah? Catch up a bit. We'll be over at the sabacc tables. Ah, that is if you don't mind, boss."

He turned to the younger of the wealthies, who smiled enigmatically. "I don't at all. I'd relish the opportunity, really."

"There we go, find me after Merasska; we'll catch up."