Breakaway ---The Mandalorian

Chapter 15: Escape

Din had chosen to leave his armor at the lower house rather than take it to the meeting. He wanted less to worry about when he was so exposed. After his evening at the ball, he had a feeling that his armor was more vulnerable than previously expected. After a haircut and shave he was still feeling nervous but he was ready. They took a transport to the bathhouse in the evening and were welcomed by two beautiful beings at the door. They had dark blue skin and curvaceous bodies. They signed in Clara and Din at the front desk and took them to a private changing room. "You can remove your clothes here and enter the bathhouse from the back door." One of the beings said and left the room. Clara entered a changing room next to Din and shut the door. Now that Din was alone, the fear of what was about to unfold began to creep at him. He had not been naked in front of someone, in the light, in many years. Din was realistic in his bodily urges and had visited a few brothels in his life. He had always entered at night, insisted that the lights be out, and left quickly afterwards. True intimacy or even exposure had never occurred. Din had never allowed himself to let his guard down. Now, in this situation he was wishing that Clara could do all the negotiations for him. However, when he thought of her having to negotiate in the bath with those slimy guild members, it motivated him to swallow his fear and move on.

Din removed his clothes and his head covering. Placed them in the locker and then put on the robe. He found a pair of slippers in the cabinet and put those on as well. He looked at himself in the mirror and thought about what he was going to do one more time. He was realizing more and more that the creed he followed passionately wasn't going to work in every situation forever. He needed to figure out how to follow the creed and live his life. That fine line would not be easy but it was something he needed to do.

He stepped out the back door of the changing room into the large expansive spa. The floors were covered in a light wood with decorative carvings. The walls were also wood, with beautiful lights hanging from them. The lights imitated flames but were kept dim. The bathhouse was warm and filled with people. The steam made his vision blurry and obscured figures farther away from him. He couldn't estimate how many people were there but he could hear low conversation coming from all areas. The room was large and full of several pools of different temperature sunk into the ground. He walked by each pool looking for the contact for the meeting and stopped when he found him. "Din welcome, please join me." The contact said.

Din slowly disrobed and stepped into the hot water. After several months in the cold, the warm water was relaxing. A masked server came by and handed Din a cold beverage. He took a sip, remembering Clara's instructions to play by the rules. It was a sour alcoholic beverage but ice cold. It was soothing and cooled him down.

After he got comfortable two other men approached him in the bath. Din was very uncomfortable at being exposed but also with the other nudity around him. To his surprise, none of the men seemed to care that they were all sitting nude in the bath together.

An older man with greying hair and a bald spot walked down the stairs into the bath first. Din could only see his face once he sat below the water. He had sagging skin around his neck and shoulders which made Din assume his age to be around 70. The second man approached and stepped down the stairs. He was much younger and fit, his calves and legs were bulging with muscles and his groin was clean shaven. Once the second man sat Din had to restrain his anger from boiling up into his chest. "Calron, what a surprise." Din said

"Well, I felt I needed to see the man Clara plans on running off with. I have to say I'm surprised." Calron replied.

Calron appeared aloof when they met at breakfast. He had invited himself to Clara's family home and assumed she was there to reunite with him. Now he was encroaching on their only way off this planet. He was more persistent than a desert sandstorm. Din not only felt annoyed but also ready for a fight, but Calron's frame in the hot tub was intimidating. He looked as if he spent most of his day exercising, he had a chiseled neckline and muscled shoulders. His physique was one of an athlete not a warrior. He had no scars or markings and his hair was perfectly combed in one direction. He was clearly very fond of showing off his body and made a point to assess his competition in Din. The second man said "I am Belton, I will be providing the fuel from my stores, should we decide on a deal." Belton had a small tattoo on his shoulder which wasn't legible from across the bath. Belton felt the need to boast about his fleet and spent several minutes explaining how many ships he had, and what types. He made special care to let Din know that he had a fully stocked repair shop that tended to his fleet should Din need one. Din made a note of that but also kept in mind that this was a deal. Just then a third man approached and entered the bath. He spoke immediately, as he was sitting down "You can call me the dealer, I don't use my real name." He was a tall thin man with sunken eyes. He looked to have some type of drug habit as his arms were scarred and his teeth were rotten. His eyes however, were alert and focused on Din.