revivalproject | Cobb's Event Catch All

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Cobb's Event Catch All | Open

WHO: Cobb Vanth & All
WHERE: Various locations across Coruscant.
WHAT: Adventures across the planet
WHEN: Event
WARNINGS: Cussing. Angst. Possible violence. Will update as necessary.

This was not how Cobb imagined his first time off Tatooine. Then again, with his history, maybe he should have expected his first trip in space and to a Core world would be against his will. These Agrii fellas needed to learn to ask for permission. He would've said yes if they had asked. Instead, there was a little bubble of resentment brewing towards their alien captors.

But that anger could wait. A lot of people here had no idea how to navigate any planet in the galaxy much less one like Coruscant. Stars, even Cobb was a little out of his element but at least he could read the writing and understand how things worked in general. The first thing he focused on was getting everyone else settled and comfortable to go around by themselves. It was a lot of explaining how credit worked and offering to help if anyone needed it.

It took a few days before Cobb disappeared on his own one morning. The credits provided by the Agrii and the few he had on him when he got taken were burning a hole in his pocket. He went to the market and found himself some pieces of durasteel armor and a padded armor suit to wear underneath. It was, without a doubt, the nicest thing Cobb had ever owned, gleaming a brass-gold color against the black padded suit and soft green cloak he also bought to hide the scars that peeked out from the suit.

Damn if he didn't feel guilty for the two-thousand credits he handed over to buy it.

He just couldn't help but think of all the necessary things he could buy for home or this group of people at that cost. Two thousand credits would never got that far on Tatooine where everything was so damn expensive but it could've done something good. But after putting it all on he looked like he belonged on a Core world instead of an outsider in ragged clothes. Clothes he kept because they were still good enough for home and no one wasted anything on Tatooine. The armor though... wearing it he felt... like someone important and wasn't that a heavy thing?

Not only did the armor protect him and help him blend in, now he could get into better bars and taverns where they played high stakes sabacc. Cobb had learned his numbers playing the card game and was damn good at it. Good enough to win games against rich fools who tossed credits around like they could be dug up from the sand. That real vindictive part of himself really enjoyed it.

And everything he won now went to what they'd need to survive and anyone else who needed a few spare credits.

After all, he could always win more.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There was a bit of commotion by the entrance of the bar that Cobb has stopped at, and it wasn't long before a familiar voice could be heard above the stern rebukes. The Exo was threatening to make a scene whether he meant to or not, obviously not primed on the 'finer' points of this galaxy's culture.

At the gambling table Cobb sat at, a three-eyed Gran snorted, muttering something about crazy droids as he adjusted the cards in his hand and added a credit chip to the pile.

Yeah, the problem with that droid was Cobb knew him. He glanced over his shoulder just to confirm it was Cayde trying to get in. It was. He'd recognize those spotchka blue eyes anywhere.

Luckily for his friend, Cobb had a losing hand. "Fold," he said when it came to his turn. "And I'll be steppin' out."

He took his winnings, not much but more than he'd lost, with a nod to everyone at the table then left the table. Cayde seemed to be arguing with the bouncer for the club. "Pardon me," he said, making sure to draw himself up to his full height and look important. The new armor helped with the illusion. "I'm familiar with this droid. I'll take responsibility for him."

The bouncer still didn't look pleased. Cayde made an impression but he stepped back to allow Cayde in.

Cayde had to double-take at the man before recognizing him for who he was, a grin crossing his metal features. "Nice cape," he couldn't he help but comment. It seemed obligatory, a Hunter thing. And then what Cobb informed the bouncer sank in, making the Exo scowl a little, but he sauntered past the bouncer. He liked making impressions, and wasn't going to complain about getting the upperhand here, even if it did take some help.

"I'm a big boy, I can be responsible," he said to Cobb, falling back into his usual carefree demeanor. "So, hope I wasn't interrupting anything important."

"Thanks." Cobb blushed just a little and pretended to not notice. He was still adjusting to just how many people noticed him when he wore the new armor and cape. Even the beskar didn't get him stared at like this.

"Just losing a hand of sabacc." He led Cayde to a table and signaled a waitress, a pretty blue tw'ilk with elegantly long lekku. "Bottle of spotchka, two glasses."

She looked a little confused because droids didn't drink but nodded and went to get his order. "You're gonna have a hard time in this galaxy which I think you're starting to figure out. No one thinks you're a human in a metal body. No droid here is that advanced."

"What's sabacc?" the Exo asked, curiosity clearly perked. He'd heard some keywords there that suggest gambling, and he was all about gambling. With a grin at the waitress, he settled easily into one of the seats, resting an arm over the edge of the table.

Ooh, spotchka! He remembered the man mentioning it before, so he looked forward to experiencing the stuff in person. His brow however furrowed as Cobb started to give him a rundown of what to expect in this place, and Cayde rolled his optics as he sighed. "Well, advanced models aside, what's that supposed to mean? I need someone with flesh and blood to walk me around by the hand or something?"

“A card game.” Cobb leaned back in his chair and pointed out the tables in the back where folks were gathered up playing the game and very obviously gambling with credits. “That’s how I’ve been making money while we’re here.”

Yeah, the Agrii kept providing money but Cobb felt better about winning it. Conversation at the table also kept him updated on what was happening around the galaxy right now. Not much. Things were really quiet and peaceful in the Old Republic.

“Generally? Yeah.” Cobb paused while the waitress returned with a bottle of faintly glowing blue alcohol and two glasses. She even offered ice but Cobb said no. He was used to semi-warm spotchka. He poured for them both. “Droids can run simple errands but most people don’t trust them without a human around to keep an eye on them. Independence is a real tricky thing. If we get you a helmet you might be able to pass as a human in armor with prosthetics.”

Spotchka is a slightly salty taste with a little burn, sort of like vodka. Cobb sipped his because this was the good stuff.

"Do tell!" Cayde said eagerly on the subject of sabacc, scooting forward in his seat like an eager child awaiting a good story. He was all about making more money, generous as the Agrii have been in providing. That was not to say he wasn't appreciative they were being funded.

Giving the waitress a wink, he scooped up his glass once it was filled, taking a moment to enjoy looking at the glowing beverage. He glanced around, making sure to catch at least a few people's eyes before raising the glass in mock toast and tipping it back for what amounted to a sip.

"Well that's no fun," he snorted as he set the glass down. "-this by the way? Not bad. I doubt anyone would be willing to take me on in a drinking game though. A helmet isn't a bad thought, the only objection I have is hiding my beautiful face."

Cobb didn't have a deck with him or else he'd show Cayde. If the waitress swung around again he'd see if he could grab one from here. "Pretty simple game on the surface. You wanna win the pot with a hand worth twenty-three points. You got higher, you're out. If no one makes twenty-three the closest without going over wins the pot. Has seventy-six cards, each with a specific value."

If Cayde was real curious Cobb could list them all and their values. It was all in his had and even if he went mad in the desert back home he thought he'd hold on to sabacc cards.

"See, I thought the horn would be the problem." He gestured at the very prominent horn in the center of Cayde's forehead. "But there might be somethin' in the market. I got all this and saw plenty of helmets."

Seventy-six cards with specific values. That was a lot of homework, but Cayde was already committed the moment he'd asked what Sabacc was. "Sounds kind of like an Earth game I know. I needa show you how to play when we get back." He paused, casting almost a longing look towards the gambling tables. "Would they let me play?"

The horn, the horn. The Exo grinned, gesturing towards his metal features the way one showed off priceless jewelry. "My beautiful horn is part of my beautiful face," he said. "But yeah, I did consider that. I figure that with the faces I've seen on some people around here, it might not be that big of a problem."

"No, droids brains are too good and too hard to read. People don't let them play." But Cayde wasn't a droid. He was something else entirely. None of that would matter to anyone sitting at those tables. "Bet you'd be real good too once you got it down."

Cobb figured if anyone could make him a better sabacc player it'd be Cayde. Or maybe one of the Jedi with their strange powers. Could he teach Mando's kid? That could be fun.

"We can buy a deck and I'll teach ya. Bet a few people from around here know how to play." It could make for a good time when they got back to the ruins. "The problem isn't the horn. It's..."

All of Cayde.

"If we can hide the face, though, you could stand a chance."

The Exo couldn't help but preen a little at that observation. "I do know my way around a gambling hall," he said with a crooked smile. Little good that'd do him if they wouldn't even let him have a crack at a game.

He didn't look particularly amused to be implied as a major problem. And here he thought he'd finally be able to have some fun somewhere!

"Right, so we go do some shopping then, get a crash course in how they game around here, and then maybe have some fun?"

Yeah, he got the sense Cayde was good at bullshit which is really all a gambler needed. He chuckled into his drink. It was hard not to like the man even though Cobb wasn't so fond of droids himself.

"Oh, I think we can find some fun. It's a little too bright in here. Might have to go to the lower levels for a game with you," Cobb said as he poured himself another drink. "Low lights, a little touch of armor to disguise you, we can definitely get you into a game."

It'd be more dangerous than playing in the more respectable bars Cobb's been cleaning out but they could handle themselves. "Gotta get a deck to show you the cards."

That sounded fine with Cayde. "The underground's where most of the excitement is just about anywhere," he said as he picked up his glass again, tossing back the rest of its contents. Then he nudged the empty glass towards Cobb for a refill.

"Well, I'm in. You find us a deck and we can get things rolling."

"People know how to have fun when they've got very little else." Cobb leaned back further in his chair and caught the eye of the waitress. She sauntered over and he turned on the polite charm, all smiles and warm voice.

"Darlin', could we get a sabacc deck? Just to keep my hands busy while I'm talkin' with my friend here. Drinkin' without the cards just ain't the same." He grinned but the waitress didn't seem terribly impressed by him.

Ah, well, she still went off and came back with the cards. Cobb tipped her for putting up with him. He offered Cayde the cards to look through first. "Best to just look first."

The Exo gave him a knowing nod. More to gain, less to lose too. He watched as Cobb spoke to the waitress again, hiding a snicker behind his hand. As she went off, he helped himself to more of the spotchka.

"Ooh, these look fun," he said as he accepted the cards and began rifling through the well-worn deck. He started dividing them up by like-symbols as he saw them, figuring it might make things easier for Cobb to explain.

“You got your four basic suits. Sabers. Flasks. Coins. Staves.” Cobb tapped a finger against each suit. “You got your basic numbers in those suits. Those have the value on them. Then you’ve got your ranked cards. Commander is twelve. Mistress is thirteen. Master is fourteen. Ace is fifteen. Some versions of sabacc it can be one as well. Just make sure you know what style you’re playin’ and you’ll be fine.”

Cayde started to lay out the face cards, two sets of eight. He tapped a finger against the first one Cayde laid out. “The Star. Negative seventeen. All the face cards have negative values. Real important to remember that when you’re building a hand.”

He went through the rest of the face cards. The Evil One, negative fifteen. Moderation, negative fourteen. Demise, negative thirteen. Balance, negative eleven. Endurance, negative eight. Queen of Air and Darkness, negative two. Idiot, zero.

“Best to memorize the values first before you learn how to play. Adding things up in your head can get tricky fast if you don’t have the values down.” Cobb had learned numbers with the cards before he learned how to play the game.

As Cobb explained each card, Cayde assigned names and made connections of similarities in his head, nodding along. As the ones he laid out were explained next, he hummed thoughtfully.

"Wow, these names make it sound like you don't mess around with Sabacc," he chuckled. He was already working on committing the values and cards to memory, knowing that he wasn't the only one musing over them. Both he and Sundance figured it was better she stay out of sight in public around here.

"No one messes around with Sabacc. There's two pots to win. And in some places the cards are digital. Dealer will switch them up so your winning hand suddenly becomes a losing one."

It was supposed to stop cheating but Cobb had never played a game with a big enough buy in to see digital cards. Even here which was pretty high money in his opinion they still used good, old fashioned, real cards.

"Just gotta be good at numbers and a little lucky." He poured himself another glass. "I'll buy a deck and we can play games around the ships. Maybe get a few of the folks from this galaxy to join in. It'd be a better way to learn than just playin' against me."

"Digital cards? What fun is that!" Cayde snorted at the very idea. Holding actual cards in hand was part of the experience. "How do you know the dealer ain't cheating on you with digital swap-outs?"

He knocked back his second glass of spotchka. "Sounds simple enough. I'm not bad at numbers. And I've got lucky pants." The latter was debatable but he was still pretty confident in his abilities. Anyway, you couldn't win them all, although it'd be pointless if he couldn't even get himself to a table without people thinking him mighty suspect.

"Sounds good to me! We need more ways to pass the time. So I guess next we do some shopping."

"The droid is programed not to cheat." Which really illustrated the differences between droids and Exos. Droids were programmed to behave a certain way and follow orders. Their free choice was very limited.

Lucky pants made Cobb chuckle. Yeah, it would definitely be fun to play against Cayde. He'd probably be a talker during the game. Cobb had a gut feeling about that.

"Well, you wanna go shopping put the cards back and finish your drink." Otherwise, Cobb would sit until the bottle was finished.

The Exo makes a face but he otherwise isn't surprised. "They hack-proof?" There are still ways to cheat if someone had the mind to, but unfortunately Cobb's point just underlines how much robots here are more like glorified accessories.

"Yes mother," he says as he starts gathering the cards back up. He sets the deck down and tops off his glass with spotchka before knocking it back. "All right, whenever you're good."

"It's not easy but if you've got a death wish messin' with someone's dealer droid you could do it." Cobb wouldn't try it. He had stirred up enough trouble taking on Red Key. He didn't need to take on more syndicates as well. They ran the gambling halls back home.

He finished his glass and put a generous tip on the table then got to his feet. "I can take you to where I got this armor."

That seemed like the best place to start on finding a disguise for Cayde. Probably just had to hide his face and no one would know he was a 'droid'. It would be real trouble if anyone found out though.

Once they were walking through Coruscant's streets Cobb looked him over. "Where's your floating friend?"

"Oh, I wasn't volunteering. I was just asking," Cayde said, raising his hands. He'd rather stick to physical card games. Digital just sounded like it catered to a different crowd, the fluffy, high-society type that didn't want to get their hands dirty.

Standing, the Exo nodded and motioned for Cobb to lead on then, but not before he stopped at a random table in passing where a lone drinker sat. He picked up the man's glass, staring him straight in the eye.

"No one will ever believe you," he whispered, capping it off with a grin before he tossed back the glass's contents, set it down and then sauntered out after Cobb.

While he ignored most looks once they were back out in the street, Cayde wasn't afraid to meet curious gazes and offer a nod in casual greeting to anyone who gawked longer than they should. "Sundance? Oh, she's safe," he said. "Figured it's better she stay outta sight."

Cobb didn't know what was Cayde was up to until he saw him pick up the drink. He rolled his eyes. Yeah, that was definitely going to help Cayde blend in. Given that he wasn't above petty acts of revenge himself Cobb wasn't going to judge too harshly.

"Because she looks like a droid too?" Cobb could understand that. People on the street stared at Cayde enough as it was. The little floating friend he had would get noticed as well.

At least while he walked with Cobb no one would ask any stupid questions about where Cayde's person was.

He seemed determined to make an impression some way or another.

"That and I like having an extra ace up my sleeve," the Exo chuckled. No point in drawing extra attention, but no one had to know someone was always keeping an eye on his six as they navigated these busy streets.

It was a little annoying noticing how much less the eyes tended to follow them once Cobb was taken in. Cayde figured he was going to have to reconsider his earlier anticipation about the whole trip. Still, if this helmet deal worked, it might not be so bad. Still slightly annoying, but not workable. It wasn't like he didn't wear helmets back home, but it had been a long while, and he wasn't Shaxx.

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