Floor Cookies

Written by Sailor Berchest

Coruscant was a dirty place, Suri thought. The buildings on the lower levels oozed black sludge, there was no sunlight, trash filled alleyways becoming makeshift homes for less fortunate creatures and those that knew no better.

Suri hated it. Everything felt unclean and impure. It made her skin crawl to walk through the streets. The hairs of the back of her neck raised whenever she passed a dark shadow - often in the underbelly of the city-planet. She passed them with care.

The long-legged dancer handed a mismatched set of coins to a vehicle's operator. He - or it? She always assumed masculinity - looked bored as he waved her inside. Suri moved through the long vehicle and found a seat that looked almost clean. As she was reaching in her bag, the vehicle started with a jerk. Only her innate sense of balance - even perched on high heels - kept her from falling.

From her bag, she produced a towel and spread it over the seat. It clung to the seat, and she counted it as a loss. But the cloth did its job of protecting her bantha-hide pants well enough. She hated Coruscant.

The vehicle groaned and jerked through the dank tubes and streets of the city-planet. It stopped occasionally, spewing out creatures and acquiring more. Suri tried to look mean so no one would sit near her. It only partially worked, and she swore she would buy a personal vehicle soon.

Suri's destination was many levels above the old embassy that she lived in. It was so close to the surface that it got scraps of grungy sunlight filtered through the haze of Coruscant's dirty sky. She absentmindedly brushed grime that was less than imaginary off of her gauzy shirt - last year's fashion. The dancer-turned-heroine had learned long ago that wearing anything she cared for on the public transit was a gamble at best.

The bus lurched to a stop, attempting to throw Suri into the sticky seat in front of her. She was on her feet, glancing back at the towel. It had started to turn an unhealthy shade of green and she left it.

Her destination was a few blocks down from the stop and she luxuriated in the comparatively clean and bright surroundings. Natural sunlight fought its way through the lattice between buildings, and she even saw flowers. There were no cardboard shanties or trash heaps masquerading as homes. The neon lights were tasteful and dim - something that still caught her attention.

She reached a real wood door and pushed. It swung open to admit the lithe woman to an interior furnished completely in real, natural wood from hundreds if not thousands of planets. It even had the scent of wood - though Suri knew that was artificial.

"Force, Suri! I'm glad you're here!" A short human was grabbing her hand and pulling her towards a curtained off area. "Force! Thanks for coming in. They've been begging for you all night!"

Suri grinned, and flipped her long purple hair over her shoulder. "I rushed right over as soon as I heard." They were behind a curtain and Suri began to undress.

"Did you take the pills?"

Her smile was a little more strained. "Yes, I did."

"Good! I thought you felt warm." He scrutinized her as she removed her clothes. "Oh Force. What the hell is that?!"

Suri frowned and turned to examine herself in the mirror. Her eyes went wide and she cursed mentally. "I fell down the stairs a few days ago. Someone polished them and made them so slippery!" It was a lie, but it sounded more realistic than the truth - some monster had wrapped a tentacle around her and thrown her into a wall. "I have some cream," she continued, digging into her bag. "I didn't know I was coming this morning, or I'd have already taken care of it."

The man grabbed the cream out of her hand and began to slather it on the wound. "Force. This had better be non-toxic. Force. Get into the heels and cuffs." He sounded frustrated with her, and Suri wasn't sure she could blame him.

As he worked the cream into her skin, she picked a pair of black bantha-hide cuffs off the shelf. They were simple with a large sliver ring on each. The dancer picked out a pair of heels that complimented them and fit the items to her wrists and feet. A pair of black bantha-hide boy shorts completed her outfit...or lack thereof.

"How's it look?" Suri craned around, trying to see. The blemish was nearly invisible, she noted with satisfaction.

"Pretty good," the man responded, looking her over carefully. "You look great."

She grinned at him, and slid into a red silk robe, tied at the waist. It wouldn't stay on long, but it was bad salesmanship to give away all the goods before payment. Suri followed, tapping her heels purposefully against the grained floor. The pair was garnering attention from every corner of the establishment, due entirely to the female.

They slipped through another, thicker curtain and into a room with six creatures of various race. Suri spotted what passed for business attire on three worlds and smiled demurely.

"Gentlcreatures," the man said, taking a deep bow. "I have brought your table."

They looked expectant and Suri bowed slightly before letting the red silk robe drop to the floor. She laid herself on the raised platform, relaxing as it gave way to form a contour under her body. The man took her hands and clipped the cuffs to the wall above her head. Suri stretched her long legs out and took on a pleasant, but slightly blank look.

The man bowed and walked out of the room, gesturing for the servers to come in. They filed in, platters pilled high. Suri kept the blank look on her face as they placed food on her skin, then as the business creatures began using her as a living table.

She let her mind wander, past the restaurant, past its exclusive clientèle, past the layers of grime on the planet... and Suri wondered if there was a clean, fresh rain anywhere to be found on Coruscant. She suspected not... but it was nice to dream.

Back to Stories