Discomfort Zone

"Firespray 31, this is Jovan Station Control. Please identify yourself."

"This is TCI78V1212 Nemesis of Reason requesting permission to dock."

"Hold please."

The time spent waiting was starting to pile up, and it was giving me way too much time to think about what I was doing. Sure, it wouldn't be the first time I'd flown halfway across the galaxy uninvited in hopes of scoring some ass, but I had to admit that even I had a few lines I didn't cross; and here I was staring at one of them. Jovan Station might be an Alliance military and civilian outpost here on the galactic border with the Empire, but it was also a flagship for Cizerack culture and people. I had been here before on business a few times, and I have to say it sucks to be forced to confront a slice of home that I want nothing to do with. The very idea has my stomach already curled into balls of stress, and the long wait for docking confirmation was making it worse. I mean, I get it. I haven't exactly been the best guest when I've been here before. It's not like I'm going to confront the ghosts of my past sober, and yeah shit happens when I've had way too much Vosh.

"Nemesis of Reason, you have been approved to dock at S3D7. Watch yourself. Any further disturbances will result in lawful punishment up to and including exclusion, impound, and jail time. Welcome to Jovan Station."

What an overreaction, jeez. It was only a little property damage, and those guys deserved the beating they got. Seriously, who tries to fight a big ass motherfucker in armor like that? They would have broken their own bones on my armor even I hadn't broken them first with my hands.

If I was going to be forced to watch my step then this visit just got a million times worse. That means no venting, no hard drinking. Fuck. It's fine. I can handle it, and what's more I will be a little fucking model citizen. That'll show 'em, and them maybe they'll take down the heat. Maybe Vraska will give me jobs again if she sees I'm not the trouble maker she thinks I am. Goddess knows I can't keep working exclusively for Sheegoth. I love that big lizard but he's driving me crazy with the jobs he's been giving me lately. Baby sitting corporate rats, scaring cavemen on backwater planets, and transporting goods. That's not what I signed up for. I swear if I don't get to shoot somebody in the face this year I'm going to fucking lose it.

It didn't take long to get docked on Spire Three, but it did take a long time to walk the length of the Nemesis several times making sure every single weapon I owned was properly stored in it's proper place. Every time I thought I had everything taken care of I found another particle laser or vibro knife out of place and started the whole process over again. In the end, I had a lot more weapons than I thought I did, and even more surprising it all fit in the lockers I had on-board. I wouldn't say I'm not a safe person when it comes to blasters, but I do tend to leave more lying about just in case I need a quick grab. Never know what you'll run into. But this was Jovan, and knowing the bastards they'll conduct a search or some shit and I was not going to get caught with my tail out.

A place for everything and everything in it's place. It looks like a goddamn holomercial in here. Thanks, I hate it.

"Oni, watch the ship and lock it up after me. If Port-Sec does anything fishy, you let me know... Acknowledged, Master Abaddon. Safe travels."

The Nemesis did not actually have an on-board ship AI, but after seeing the one on-board Fook's ship I've been wanting one of my own. However, that's not something I'm ever going to be able to afford with the shit jobs I've been getting on top of what feels like a never ending sea of medical bills, so in the meantime I've been pretending to have one, trying out different names and personalities, and voicing both parts of the conversation. Not sure I like Oni all that much. He's a little too much a butler and not as cool as I want, and it felt like a rip-off of Guan Yu. I don't want to be a copycat. Abaddon the Void Knight is a unique and cool guy, and doesn't need to steal the style from anyone else.

I'd made sure my armor was polished to a shining finish, and every bit of chip damage and blast scoring was cleaned out and patched properly. New armor was higher on the priority list than ship AI but it was still going to be awhile before I could afford another top of the line set like this one. Getting the helmet repaired after Centares had cost a lot more than I could have ever anticipated, and that monthly payment was really wearing down my credits. So for now it was patch and polish. The worst of it would be covered by my full length coat. It felt weird leaving the ship armed with nothing. No hidden blaster, no stashed knife. I was on my best behavior. If it wasn't for the armor I would feel completely naked and vulnerable. Shit. What am I saying? Abaddon doesn't need weapons. He's a badass. Yeah. Strut that stuff. Ain't nobody going to mess with me if I walk confidently, and look scary. I pulled my hood up over the top of my helmet and as soon as I passed the security checkpoint I stuck a stim in to the vent in the front of my helmet.

Navigating around the station took a bit of doing. I had no idea where she is, and I had to ask around. A lot. Even less fun I ended up increasingly around Alliance personnel, which made sense since that's who she worked for, but still, I'd like to spend as little time around the Alliance and their felinoid allies as much as possible. By the time I found my way the stim had long ago burn down and been discarded. I found myself at a door that said "Engineering" over the door and the plaque next to it listed several names of servicemen that worked within. I ran my finger down the list and read each one... Rabeak... Floewander... Rakkamar... Beck! There it is. So this must be the place. Looked like an office workshop combo from out here. I hope I look presentable. Shit. I should have brought something. Flowers? Nah. That's way too sissy. Fuck. I probably look like such a weirdo. Stand tall, heroic pose. Now hit that buzzer. What's the worst that can happen?

Oh shit.

Tucked away towards the back of the main shop area, nestled in a corner alongside Chief Rabeak's own office, was the office of Tamera Beck. If not for the clutter of datapads, shipping crates, courier box containers, and a smattering of other knick-knacks, it would've seemed a spacious area. The desk was piled with old crisp wrappers, a main terminal, a comm unit, a few holos of the speeders that she'd fixed up while still working on Nar Shaddaa, and even an old caf mug filled with a mess of stylus pens. The walls, what portions weren't blocked by crates, held cheaply framed posters of old speeders. An XJ-6 on one wall beside a print of an Eclipse speeder bike. Another wall held a lineup of Stingray speeder bikes and a faded old flimsi of a grizzled rancher atop a dun-colored fathier, with a mountain range in the background. Unlike the others, it had a gaudy golden frame that looked like it belonged in a senator's private office. It was also exceedingly dusty, the only 'clean-ish' spots being the fingerprints from when it had been last moved.

And happily buried deep in the center of it all, Tamera Beck was fully engrossed in a comm call.

"No no, Senna, that's not what I want. I told you what I want. And you said you have it."

A pause.

"Yeah no, that's not what you said you would send me. Look. Senna. I need those pulse retractors in less than a week... the Alliance needs them. And last I checked you're on an Alliance world, yeah?"

Another pause.

"Come oonnnnnnn! You know what this means for me. I even put in-"

The buzzer-chime cut in, and Tamera briefly looked up at the closed door of her office. A moment later, she palmed the speaker pad.

"Chief?! Chief! Someone's at the door!"

Was Anauri even in yet?

"'Doona? May? Hey guys?! Someone needs you!"

"I'm aan it!"

Cutting the juice to the spark cutter, Gradoona eased the torch onto its rack, drawing the protective goggles up from her eyes. Easing up from her work, the Herglic doffed her heavy work gloves, stuffing them into a pocket before slapping the door control. The figure on the other side of the door was...not what she expected. She hauumed from her blowhole, shifting slightly to place a hand on her hip.

"There a praablem?"

Not that there was a law against wearing head-to-toe armor on a generally peaceful space station, but since the Empire had packed up, it wasn't exactly common. Maybe that was a bad first impression. Maybe the fella had to have a sealed environment and respirator, like one of those Kel-Dor fellas? Not that Gradoona was particularly paranoid or jumpy, but she also had never been shot before coming to Jovan, either. It paid to at least pay attention to things.

"Uh..."

Goddess above, that is a big lady! She filled the entire doorway, and some. I have never seen anything like it. All slippery and shiny like the Sabaa back home. I wondered if she liked lying on beaches in the sun, too. Damn, I wonder if I could take something like that in a fight. Probably. I'm a pretty good fighter, but yeah. I don't think I would go out of my way to fight a... whatever that is. My hand had strayed to my hip, but there was no blaster there. Not even an empty holster to rest my hand on. Instead I stuck my hands in the pockets of my coat and looked off to the side to hide the awkward fumble and also look like I'm too cool to care.

"I'm looking for Beck. She here?"

Gradoona didn't budge.

"Who waant's to knoow, eh? She in some kiiinda trouble oor whaat?"

Not that she was Tam's protector or anything, but she also didn't want her professional acquaintance getting pinched by a bounty hunter if this was what was going on. I mean, she'd miss her for sure, but it would also double her work!

"Um, that is, that, I'm not on the clock; Citizen. This is a personal call. No big deal."

Why were the goddamn words so hard to get out of my stupid mouth! This was Abaddon talking and my big dumb words are coming out of his mouth. Shut off your brain, Ori, and let Abaddon be in control. He has this handled. She's not his type, anyway. Not my type either. I think. Goddess, she looks strong...

"Names Abaddon, as in Abaddon the Black; Maybe you've heard of me. I'm a pretty big deal."

"Waaait a tick." Gradoona's voice drew out in suspicious timbre as her little eyes narrowed. She squared up, staring the laminate-clad figure up and down before her blowhole gasped and she whistled.

"Yoou're the booyfriend, arren't ya?!"

BOYFRIEND!?!?

There had been a dozen quick witted, sharp tongued responses preprogramed into my head, ready for whatever she had to throw back at me, and now I couldn't get my tongue to form a single one of them. It felt cold and dead in my mouth; but, like, at the same time my guts felt warm. Hot even. Abaddon did not like this. Not one bit. He was rebelling in my head but I couldn't even hear his words anymore. He wanted to be all cool, shrug it off with a 'whatever' and then do something cool; like a kickflip. But I liked it. I liked the implication of it. The way the words sounded. Abaddon the Black Despoiler of a Thousands Worlds had been many things, but Boyfriend has never been a title he has possessed.

The best I had ever managed before was Booty Call, and that didn't go well. Repeat visits never did. That's why this was so stressful. Oh. My. God. What have I gotten myself into?

"Yeessss?"

Anauri's left ear twitched at the sound of voices outside his office, while he attempted to pay attention to an efficiency report call coming in through the earpiece in his right. Garfife, but Melerian Sgu was boring, and she just kept droning on and on while Gradoona could be heard talking with... someone.

Someone apparently there to see Tamera, as she'd called out for him to go see who it was. Even if he wasn't on a call, why would he go see who it was? Anauri tipped over the nameplate on his desk, so he could read it as yet more efficiency ratings rattled off. Yep, it said "Chief Engineer - Anauri Rabeak" on it. That meant if there was anyone in engineering who didn't have to play doorman, it was him. A sip of cooled stimcaff brought a smile to the brown-furred Nehantite's muzzle as he thought about that.

Then he blinked. There was no more incessant prattling from the other end of the line. She had ceased speaking, thank Garfife!

"Excellent report, I'll keep all that in mind," he replied. "Looking forward to the next call. Rabeak out."

A satisfying click terminated the call, and he fished the earpiece out before getting up. Whoever was here, Gradoona seemed to be keen to talk to them. Not that that was anything out of the blue. Anauri was sure that Gradoona would talk to a wall if it had a face painted on it, sometimes. And occasionally if there was no face, either. And, as Beck's door hadn't opened, he figured he ought to go take a look. Besides, his mug of stimcaff was low, and cold, and the machine was in the common room anyhow.

"Let's keep the social visits down while we're on the clock, Gra- whoooo the hell are you?" The chief engineer's voice, and expression changed as he crossed the room, and the armored form of Abaddon came into view from behind the total eclipse of herglic which was Gradoona.

Her less-than-pleasant call to Senna had been finished, and Tamera grabbed her datapad up in a quick scoop, mindful to take up the half-eaten bag of fire-pepper crisps with her other. She adjusted her glasses slightly, to make sure that she could read while walking, and skirting her desk, the brunette headed out of her office.


"Hey!" Her call was to everyone and no one in particular, "... so we've got a crate of priming rods and flash couplers coming in tomorrow, but I... I...


She had one chip halfway up to her mouth as her gaze finally lifted to take in the site of 'Doona, the Chief, and... Ori?!


The chip was quickly shoved back into the bag.


"Or- " she caught herself just in the nick of time. Unfortunately her course correction wasn't really any better.


"Abby?!"

"Come on guys, it's Abaddon. Black. Despoiler of a thousand worlds..."

The walking talking furball was almost as much a surprise as the fish lady, but at least I was expecting this one. Beck had mentioned something about her boss being the only man in an engineering team full of women. Still, not exactly what I was expecting. I pictured a very handsome human man with long flowing hair and a barrel chested strapped under a revealing V-Neck. A real adonis of a man, you get me? How else can you expect a bunch of women to work under you like that. Clearly I was very wrong, and this guy looked more the type that drank heavily and hits his kids. I'd bet a hundred credits his personality is "mean".

And then like my savior angel she swooped down from the sun and finally presented herself; the fat bottomed hoochy mama of my dreams herself; Beck.

"The one and only. I was in the sector and thought I'd drop by for a visit."

The kids today call it a Smash and Dash, but I wasn't about to say that in front of Drunk Uncle and very-large-but-totally-not-my-type fish lady.

"Yaknoo, we're naat in haard vacuum oor a radiation leak. You can doff the ool sunbonnet."

A thin veneer of polite hospitality shrouded Gradoona's gossipy intrigue. Who was this guy. And...why Beck? Not that she wasn't a catch, she had a great sense of humor and technically stable employment, but the only relationship goals Gradoona could previously pin on the woman was that she'd eventually have a kidney stone large enough for her to name. Nobody else in the shop was on a first name basis with the guy who stocked the vending machine.

"Waaait a sec..." Gradoona's eyes narrowed a little, "Yoou're one aaf thoose Maandaloorian guys, aren't ya? I ran into a few aaf you guys aan Subterrel a few cycles agoo."

"This one ain't no Mando," Anauri shook his head. "See."

From one of the slim pockets on his work shirt's left shoulder, he withdrew a gleaming silver object shaped like a pen, but with a flat black disc at one end. With calloused finger pads, the Nehantite pulled upon that disc, extending it away from the barrel of the device, revealing it to be a telescoping magnetic pick-up stick. Without asking, Jovan Station's chief engineer flicked it forward in a gleaming arc of cheap chrome, and let the disc end attach itself to Abaddon's chestplate with a crisp *schtack*, before letting it go. The pick-up stick jutted out from that breastplate as an inconvenient antenna, as Anauri chuckled.

"Beskar ain't magnetic. No beskar, no Mando," he announced, as if giving Gradoona a quick engineering refresher. The pick-up stick was pulled back, then retracted before slipping back into the pocket from whence it came. "Still, if Beck vouches for you, I guess you can stay, Mr. Abandon. Just try not to... touch anything."

Abby was getting a heck of a welcome, and Tamera swiftly curled her crisp bag up to close it off as she let her stride somewhat lengthen to join the small group.

Her datapad was held out to Chief Rabeak, as she sidled her way somewhat between Abby and her coworkers.

"I've got all the incoming orders prioritized, and everything is slated for prompt delivery. It took a little bit to make sure the parts numbers we use coincided with the numbers in the manuals I have, but everything should be exactly as they should be."

Which was to say that they absolutely would. Tamera Beck might've been a snack-addled junkie, but she knew her manuals and numbers, and had never failed her superior once.

She also knew that it was close enough to the end of her shift that she could afford to take the last fifteen minutes.

Her crisp bag was swiftly given to Abby, and with a toothy, please-let-me-go smile, Beck continued.

"I even made sure to schedule a shipment of upper oblique blades for the cargo cranes that will be coming up for preventative maintenance next week."

The furball was coming at me with something. I turned my head down so fast that my chin bounced off my breastplate. It was some kind of probe, and it was connected to my armor. I looked up, ready to engage on the new and present threat, and then remembered I didn't have any any of my weapons. I didn't even want my sidearm. I wanted the big shit. Hadron destroyer, the one that Fook had made fun of. Something about crossfire and collateral damage. I wasn't really paying attention, but it would turn Fuzzybutt into a crater. Guy deserved that much, although he seemed to think it was all a good laugh.

My HUD beeped back that there was no damage or threat, and I allowed my hands to relaxe just enough to stay fists at my side, and nothing more. His name was going on a list. He was lucky he was Beck's CO. You need to relax a little Abaddon. You aren't in danger just because it's Jovan. These people are important to Beck, and they should be important to you. Stop looking at everything like a nail.

"Yeah. Not a Mandalorian. Sorry to disappoint. Type VII Durasteel plates with composite plastoid. Not that military-grade Stormtrooper crap. The good stuff. Not as cool as beskar, but about as close as credits can buy."

Like I was not going to flaunt my armor. Sure it wasn't as shiny and new, or top of the line, as it used to be, but the suit had gotten me through a lot more than your average armor set could get through. A platoon of stormtroopers would have died taking the same punishment. I couldn't help but run my hand over the surface, with it's melted scorch marks and patched blaster holes hiding beneath the veneer of a whole can of polish.

Beck held out a bag toward me and I instinctively took it from her before turning it over in my hands to reveal it was a snack bag. Good brand. Good flavor. At least I knew that much about her was still true. Now I was wishing I had brought something with me, but outside of a trip to the Cluster, which was absolutely not happening, there wasn't much I could bring that she didn't already have access to on space station like Jovan. Right on the trade routes, and a second home to the Cizeracks at that. Mental note, keep the helmet on. I bet this place smells like home and I do not need that in my life right now.

She positioned herself between me and the others, which seemed a little defensive but I wasn't going to complain, because I got a good view when I leaned back and looked down.

Noice.

"I knoow it's naat beskaar!" Gradoona rebutted somewhat defensively, making the galactic gesture for duh. "Yaknoo I caan sonically resonaate metal, remember?"


She shrugged.

"I'm juust saayin, this fella aan Subterrel wouldn't leave me aloone, kept leavin' me flowers and, yaknoo, some baadaass warrior love pooetry whenever he came by foor maintenance. He never woould take the helmet aaf thoo. Something about this is the waay oor something like that. I just maybe figured we had another one of thoose?"

Beck, for her part, was trying to dot her i's and cross her t's enough to argue for reprieve from the rest of the day without looking like a goldbrick to the boss. It was a good case to make, and since Gradoona didn't have anything waiting on Beck's requisitions, she'd probably cover for any residual bullshit. Not that she'd volunteer to do it, though. As the saying goes, Ever since the Clone Wars, I don't volunteer for shit.

Tamera Beck wasn't the sort to duck out early. In fact, there had been several times where Anauri had to remind her that her shift was over, and she could go home. But knowing this, Anauri still got to delight himself a little by glancing at his wrist chrono, then giving a grumbling, contemplative sigh before relenting.

"Well, I suppose if you've got everything sorted, I can spare you," he said. "But if this one gives you any trouble, you call me and I'll open the top drawer of my toolbox, understand?"

The smile given to Beck, in full view of Abaddon, gave the helmeted stranger no indication of what might might be in said drawer, yet all in Engineering knew it well. The same fully-automatic, heavy blaster rifle which he'd used to protect Engineering, and other parts of the station, during the invasion some time back.

She gave a smile at that. A wide, toothy number that would've been awkward on anyone that wasn't Tamera Beck.

"Top drawer shouldn't be necessary, Chief."

Spoken with a breathy tone, Beck pushed her datapad into Anauri's paws.

"Everything is on here," she reassured, "... including a few of the new TAP numbers for those older resolver sensor plugs."

The fact that she was being given the go-ahead to check out early was a treat, and making sure that he had the 'pad fully, Beck let herself step back a few paces. She bumped into Ori, who was standing closer than she'd expected. Her backwards momentum wasn't stopped though, as she pushed against Ori in the beginnings of a dual removal.

She at least had the wherewithal to reach back so that she could reclaim her bag of crisps.

"See you all tomorrow, yeah?"

Okay now, that guy was trying to start a fight. Little shit. Talking about coming at me with something he's got locked away. Brave words coming from a guy who's got his whole workshop on hand. I ain't got nothin', and I know I'd still take the old furball. He's hardly the first "wise old guy" who was sure they knew better and could take the young whippersnapper or whatever they call me. They would never find that Avery fucker's body is buried in the swamps of Dartmuth. All his advice about heavy armor being useless in a swamp really didn't help him once we started blastin'. Doesn't matter if he was a better shot, not that I'm saying he was. Fact is, I'm still here and he's not, and my armor kept me that way. This mechanic dude ain't no different. I bet I can thumb his eyeballs out of his sockets before he can even find his arthritis medicine.

Prick.

I felt like I should say something, that I should try to make nice with Beck's friends, but I had no idea how to talk to these people. They weren't my kind of people. Come to think about it, I'm not sure I have a kind of people. I hate my people, and I don't really get along with other mercenary and bounty hunter types. Cool. That's fine. I don't need them either. Always been a loner. Just like that Gunshin animation Mando'a. I don't need nobody. Besides, these are nerds. Mechanics. How do you even talk to them? I don't speak binary.

Before I could even think of something to say Beck started pushing me back, which would have gotten her absolutely no where. This shit is heavy, yo. I took the hint and began stepping back away from the door, but not without looking over the top of her head and waving weakly at her coworkers. Stupid. I should have said something cool. Beep boop, maybe? Fuck knows how mechanics talk. Bunch of weirdos. Here goes...

"Uh, Later kiddos."

Fuck. That was worse than saying nothing!

The door hissed shut, cutting off Abby and Tamera from Anauri and Gradoona. It was a saving grace, and making a thinking-sort-of-face at the now-shut door, Beck let out a hefty sigh before whirling around to look at Ori.

"What are you doing here?!"

It wasn't spoken with the sort of tone that was accusatory, but the sort of whispered curious need to know why things were presented the way they were.

Ori here, now, was the last thing that she'd expected.

Of course, it was also a little bit flattering that her Cizerack friend was here, now.

The moment the door closed it was like a huge weight was taken off my shoulders. No more performances, no one else to impress. Just me and Beck; just the way I wanted it to be.

Aaaaand then the stress can hurtling back at the speed of warp as she started asking questions that I didn't have good answers for. The truth was unflattering and maybe creepy. Hey, I was horny and thinking of you; doesn't exactly make the ladies go squee in my experience.

"I was doing a job on Torque and since I was in the sector... I really wanted to see you."

The truth was so sappy and gooey. Thank the goddess there was not anyone around to hear that come out of Abaddon's helmet. I can't afford for my reputation to take a bigger dive here. I mean, I hate Jovan with all my being but still, there might come a time or level of desperation in which I might have to take a job or two on this floating garbage can. Can't ruin that for Future Me.

It was... it was really sweet. And honestly not what she'd expected. Ori was the sort of person who had a seemingly busy schedule, and after their first meeting and minor adventure on Centares, Tamera figured that Ori would be off to do her own thing. But she was here now, standing in front of her.

A bevy of options seemed to dance in front of her mind's eye, but all she could think of in the moment was to offer the obvious.

"Wanna come to my place?"

Oh god yessss... It was everything I wanted. I could feel the blood rushing to my ear and the butterflies in my stomach. Fuck. It was like being back in that motel room again. Thank the goddess I have this bucket helmet on. I don't even want to know what my stupid face looks like right now.

"Yeah. That sounds cool."

Wait, did I wear my good bodysuit or the one with the holes? I had to have put on the good one, right? Why would I even wear that ratty one if I was seeing Beck? Oh shit, I can't remember. I should have brought a bag with some stuff on board. Goddess above and below I walked into this poorly prepared.

She gave a nod, and a slight smile as her eyes went from Ori's unreadable helmet to look past her. Hands clasping together in front of her, Tamera ushered her surprise guest along then, towards an open archway that would lead them both out into a yawning cavern of a general area. Alliance personnel and a smattering of engineers bustled about with their own tasks to complete, and the brunette expertly wove her way through the morass.

A few faces were familiar, and greeted her in passing. With Ori in tow, Tamera navigated their path out to the row of lift doors on the far wall.

"So a job on Torque, eh?"

Her stomach gave a slight rumble then, and she buried her free hand into the open bag of crisps. A few bites and a swallow later, she hoped that the brief respite of bad snacks was enough to alleviate her insistent gut. She'd not eaten an actual meal since the morning hours, and even then it'd been a glazed wampaclaw. Not even an 'actual meal' as she liked to tell herself.

The lift doors hissed open, disgorging a cadre of maintenance workers before she bulled her way inside.

And when the doors closed again, it was just Ori and her.

"You bring your regular clothes with you?"

Goddess this place was crazy busy. I'd been here before, but usually during events like that stupid love festival. Never had a good reason to come here before. I'd never seen just like a regular day, I guess? It was way more people than I expected. Everywhere I looked another group of people came crashing in like waves. It was claustrophobic, and that's coming from a guy in a full suit of armor! I'd taken part in some nasty scraps against bad odds and big numbers. Dirtmuth comes to mind. It felt like that. A little too much like that. Damn, I wish I had my blaster right now. I'd feel a lot safer, that's for sure. I don't need it or anything. I'm fine by myself, but yeah. It would be nice to have. If it wasn't for Beck to guide me through the throng I'd get lost in the middle of all this. I kept my eye on that ass and it lead me through the crowd like a lighthouse on the rocks.

"Yeah. Torque. It's a lot like Coronet but if Coronet had no working lights and everything was made of duracrete and sadness. Kind of a shithole. Lots of people go there to hide. Wouldn't be the first time I went there to pull a bail jumper or wanted fugitive. No big deal. Got my guy, got paid, and I didn't get shot this time, so that's a plus."

No sooner had the doors of the turbolift closed then I crossed my arms and spilled my guts about the Torque job. In truth, it had been a huge disappointment. I took the job thinking I was going to see some action. Torque was great for a little collateral damage while you chase some shlub through a overflowing gutter and have an epic showdown in a dead end alley. Nothing like that. I got really lucky on a shot and took his leg out right at the start and the guy surrendered immediately. It was a good payout, and I really needed the credits, but so boring. Like three hours of work tops. I didn't even know what to do with myself afterwards. Usually I have to patch armor or maintenance my weapons. I didn't have anything to do with all that free time, which kind of lead to me coming here.

"I don't have any on me, no. All my stuff is back on my ship in dock."

Duracrete and sadness. Yup. That was a good way to describe Torque.

At the admission of clothes being on the ship, Tamera gave an easy shrug.

"Eh, it's no big deal. We don't really have to impress anyone, and I know I've got a few clean pairs of sweatpants and a few shirts in the back of my closet that are still good."

She was already thinking ahead to a night of reruns on Holoflix and delivery, and with an entire afternoon and evening to herself and Ori, she was excited to show the other woman a... good time? Then again, what did her companion want to do? It was a strange and sudden thought that invaded her brainmeats, and Tamera bit her lip in concern.

"...Unless... were you wanting to go out tonight?"

I'd like to give you the 'ol in and out...

I couldn't help but smile underneath my helmet as that joke passed through my head meat, but then the full realization of her question sunk in. Shit. I really don't want to go out, because out means being out here where there are Cizeracks. A lot of Cizeracks! That sounds really dangerous for my mental health and my actual health. What if she's here? I mean, she would never be caught dead on Jovan Station, fraternizing with the peasants and the help. Women of good breed would never find themselves on a Space Station. ThE vErY iDeA! That's what she said, or something like that. I really don't pay attention to her when she's talking. It's always been two scoops of racism and classism underneath a powder coat of "life advice". No. She shouldn't be here, and I shouldn't be so scared.

Maybe going out will impress Beck enough to seal the deal? Goddess knows I want that. All of that.

"Yeah. Let's go out. You and me, to your favorite place on the station. No exceptions. Whatever you like. I'm sure I've got the attire to match. What we talkin', like a suit and tie?"

Her favorite place on the station? Honestly that wasn't a difficult thing to think on, since the Solarstorm Cafe was without a doubt the best joint - to her tastes - on Jovan. It was a dingy hole-in-the-wall establishment that served greasy diner food. The lighting was low, there was an old style music player that you could queue up your preferred songs to play on, and the clientele was mostly people who just wanted to enjoy their time, the food, and the ambience. It wasn't ever really packed out, but there were a steady stream of customers regardless. Tamera had her preferred meal, and the servers knew it by heart.

Shaak bacon bantha burger with Klatooinian-style fried onion rings and a chocolate malt that was always served in the metal mixing cup.

It was honestly the best.

And just like that, going out to the Solarstorm Cafe sounded infinitely better than staying in the evening.

As the lift slowed to a stop, she adjusted her glasses, leading the way out through the doors and into one of the many corridors of the habitation ring.

"No suit and tie, unless you really want to dress up," she grinned.

"It's a small place, really. Nowhere fancy."

Fancy places made her nervous as it was. The last place she'd been to like that, she'd accidentally taken a bite out of the overly-fragile Chandrilan crystal wine glass. That whole dinner experience had been a disaster as it was.

She stopped in front of a door, reaching out to key her code the entry pad.

"So long as you like greasy food and no expectations, you'll be gold."

Hell yeah, casual eats. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Beck doesn't exactly strike me as the type that wants to go in some fancy place with fru-fru meals that barely put a dent in your stomach. I couldn't even remember the amount of Galas and dinner parties mother dragged us to with dishes like that. Real disappointment. At least my dads always knew to bring a few snacks along if they wanted me to behave and not climb up the curtains or scale the fountain in the foyer. Sounds like this place won't have that problem. I was picturing a greasy spoon type establishment with food in a glass case and only old people eating there. That's fine. Old people start less fights. Also not the kind of place that Cizeracks frequent. They like their food in a pile on the floor, not on chipped plates on old tables.

"Sounds great. Would you guess that the chairs can hold my weight? That's a legit concern, and this armor weighs a mint."

Following her to her door felt like a dream. It wasn't how I pictured it. I had no idea what the domicile levels looked like on this station. I'd only ever been on the promenade. I figured that Beck was one of two kinds of people, either she kept a really cute place where everything was just so, or it was a disaster that she was way too busy to maintain. If there wasn't a pyramid of Praangal tubes in a corner I was going to be disappointed.

The door to her quarters hissed open to reveal a strange amalgamation of cleanliness and clutter.

One wall had been painted in an accent color of light slate blue, with a smattering of framed pictures hung on it. Some were old-style photo-flimsis, others were paintings. All were of the same subject matter - lothcats.

The furniture wasn't the standard utilitarian fare; instead, Tamera had put out the credits for a matching set of smart, mid-Republic modern style sofa and chairs. The endtables and caf table were real wood. They were also stacked high with parts manuals and picture books. A few candles could be seen on wall shelves, and a pair of mottled white 'wampa' slippers (complete with soft leather claws, even) were on the floor of the hallway that led to the back of her small quarters. Standalone bookshelves could be seen, glass-encased and full of limited edition figures from Jedi's Creed, Galaxy's Cry, and a few other hologames.

Ducking in, she let Abby follow at a comfortable pace.

"Your... armor?" She at least waited until the door closed before giving a strange look over her shoulder while heading into the small kitchenette to deposit her crisp bag on the counter.

They were on downtime now, after all. No need for armor.

There it was. Right there in her tone and question. She didn't want the armor around. I get it, I think. Not exactly the easiest thing to drag around the station but... there are people out there, just beyond that door, and I really don't know if I can deal with them without the armor. I mean, Abaddon can. He's kickass and doesn't take shit from no one. But Orianna isn't that confident, isn't that strong, and certainly doesn't kick any ass. She would need a stool just to reach some ass. It was one thing to be her in the privacy of a motel room with no threats other than some fat parole officer, but here there were genuine dangers to myself. God. I just know that somehow this will get back to mother and then I'll have to deal with another weird bounty hunter showing up and trying to take me back home.

I mean, Fook was pretty cool in the end but I'd rather not go through that again.

This place was nice. It felt a little like home. Pictures of cute animals and collectible figures. Kind of shit I'd have back on the Nemesis if I wasn't trying to cultivate a very particular look. Wouldn't really strike fear into my bounty's hearts if there was a lothcat on the walls smiling back at them through the bars of their cell. This felt safe, and even more so because Beck was here. She'd seen me; been around me and seen me do some stupid shit, and she hadn't run away yet. I was kinda expecting her to close the engineering bay door on my face. But she didn't. I guess I owe her for that much.

Reaching up I grabbed the sides of the helmet and twisted it, disengaging the neck seal and pulling the helmet free. The recycled station air wasn't much of an improvement over what my suit was already filtering, but one layer of filtering removed was better than none. Thumbing the activator in the now opened neck the back of the suit began unclamping and opening up. Yeah. I got it fixed. No more having to open it with a spanner and a butter knife. I slipped out of the back, right out of my perfectly regulated miniature environment and into the station air which felt much colder than I was expecting. If I wasn't self conscious about myself before I certainly was now as my body stiffened in the cold air. The body suit was not meant for warmth. It was designed to keep my skin from getting pinched inside the suit.

Reaching up I pulled the stocking cap free of my head and shook the sharp undercut out, letting my hair fall over the chewed up remains of my right ear. The blue was gone and now my hair was bleach fading into silver. Thought I'd treat myself with something different. If I didn't have a new crazy color every other week than my mother would win.

"Oh jeez, jit'ss sso cold. Sstupjid sspace..."

I crossed my arms across my chest and tried to force the warmth back within while I stumbled after Beck toward the Kitchenette. It always felt weird walking on my feet after being in the suit. Abaddon's boots hit different.

It was nice to see Ori's face. With a warm smile, Tamera reached out to the kitschy patterned blanket draped over the back of a barchair. Bundling it up, she tossed it to her companion.

"Here, get yourself warm."

Moving past Ori, she headed for the enviro controls.

"I'll kick up the temp a little. Normally I'm used to keeping it on the cold side, but I think we can get it warmer."

A cold home meant she could curl up in blankets as much as she wanted, as the myriad of throws gave evidence of. They were draped over the backs of the sofa, the chairs, and a few were even in crumpled piles on the floor. Each one was different and brightly colored, and at least one had a Pantoran fluff lining all on one side. That one was her favorite.

"So," she ticked the meter up a few levels, "... my place isn't spectacular I know, but I hope it's ok for now."

Grabbing the blanket out of the air I wasted no time wrapping it around my shoulders and closing it up in the front. The fabric was cold as I pulled it on but it still felt better than the naked air on my bodysuit.

Beck was bustling about the place trying to get it all right for my surprise visit. Maybe I should have commed ahead, but I have to say she looks really cute while she's working. Real cute. Too cute. Oh god. I shouldn't. I should wait until after dinner; but there she is, turned away looking at the temperature controls. She was real good looking from the front but from back it was irresistible. My legs are moving. I'm walking. I guess better now then never. I can't be afraid of what she thinks forever.

Slipping right up behind her I opened the blanket and wrapped my hands around her waist and rested my chin on her shoulder. Her hair was tickling the side of my face. She smelled like engine oil and snack chips.

"jYou'rre place jiss grreat. Rreal cute and cozy. jI love jit."

Taken by surprise, Tamera blinked, feeling Ori's hands around her waist. The other woman's chin on her shoulder felt... funny? It was a strange feeling, not like the sensation of a hand or arm. There was also a bit of a moment when she froze. Feeling another body up against hers was something that she wasn't entirely used to. No one here on Jovan had ever expressed interest in her, and if she was to be perfectly honest, she'd never really felt it necessary to show interest in anyone else here. Jovan was where she lived, where her job was. It was a good job, too - a fair step above the old body shop she used to work at on Nar Shaddaa, that was for sure.

One hand instinctively moved to rest over one of Ori's own, and the other fell away from the thermostat to reach up and adjust her glasses yet again.

"Ori," a moment passed before she turned in the other woman's arms so that they faced one another. The look on the Cizerack woman's face was so singular and earnest, with a tinge of apprehension at the thought of rejection. It was just so honest of an expression, and Tamera let her own features fall into a reassuring smile.

"You wanna order in?"

I could feel her body tighten as my hands took her and I waited with my eyes closed for the flying elbow. I didn't have a helmet on to protect my face. But it never came. Instead she rested her hand on mine. There was no yelling or hitting, so already this was going better than most of my encounters with ladies. I peeked open one eye before the other. This was going too well, there had to be something coming. Abaddon never had it go this smooth, and that guy is smooth as fuck; and yet this felt so much more real then all those other times.

She turned in my arms and I carefully placed my hands on her hips even though every synapse in my stupid little head wanted me to press into her and dig my hands down lower. I kept myself restrained. There were nagging thoughts at the back of my mind but I tried to focus on her face; in her eyes, but in her glasses I could see my own reflection, and behind me the headless armor. It was jarring to see both of me at once, and somehow that empty neck hole was looking at me with disappointment. I blinked, and refocused my eyes to see through the glasses instead. Beck's eyes were very pretty.

"S-Ssurre." I stammered out. Dammit. That's not how it sounded in my head before I opened my mouth. I want to be strong and confident, like Abaddon. That's how I always pictured this encounter, but now that I had my hands on her I felt like I was melting into goo. My stupid ear wouldn't sit still on my head.

"We can eat out anotherr njight."

I wanted so many things, but every one of them felt like an overstep, and I didn't want to ruin this. I can't remember ever wanting something this badly. I could feel my face and ear warming up, and my stripes did very little to hide a blush.

"jI... jI jusst want to sspend tjime wjith jyou. jI rreally djid mjissss jyou."

Tamera gave a nod, her smile still there. Ori looked like she was about to fall over from the tiniest breeze, and truth be told, she herself had her fair share of stomach flutterflies right now. The notion that anyone wanted to actually spend time with her outside of a work environment was just... well... it had never really happened.

"How about I order us some food, and you can get into some warmer clothes," she offered gently.

She was still hungry, after all.

"Might be nice to have something that isn't snacks and refueling station fare. There's a Cizerack place that I hear is good; something about a fuzzy box of 12 sajoi and 2 thimiar?"

Then again, Ori had been more than happy to eat the same food that Tamera herself enjoyed back on Centares, so she angled for options.

"Course there's also a Quarren place that delivers some great seafood platters."

The thought of eating live food made my stomach lurch. I mean, I would eat Sajoi if it was the only thing available, but I definitely didn't go out of my way to get it. I had tried really hard to distance myself from everything from my culture. Feeding pits, husband slaves, and that ridiculous accent. Abaddon's comm system helped with that, but I was getting pretty good at talking with very little accent when I put my mind to it. And snacks. Of course I couldn't give up my Cizerack snacks, but I mean. Come on?! When some other species starts making snacks as tasty I'll switch to those but for now it's the one thing I'm allowing to stick around. The rest. Buhbye.

"Sseafood ssoundss grreat. jI can't rrememberr the lasst tjime jI had sseafood."

Most of my food was whatever I could easily store and make in the confines of my ship, and it wasn't as roomy inside as it looks. That meant refreeze meals and a lot of boxed and canned goods. Which meant I was mostly eating Lavapockets and tubes of Praangals. I'd be a fat tub of lard if it wasn't for genetics and the natural physicality that came with the job. I had to work out constantly, or I wouldn't fit inside Abaddon. That was a pretty big incentive.

I wished my bodysuit was the kind of that zipped from the back, because then I could ask Beck to undo it for me. Sadly it was a front zip, or I'd never be able to get out of the damn thing on my own. Ooh! Maybe I could have some fun with this after all. I shouldn't. I really shouldn't, but I want to see what she does. I want to know how she sees me. She mentioned changing clothes into something warmer, but that would mean taking off the suit. I mean, I could wear clothes over the top of them but that wasn't very comfortable. The damn thing was slinky, tight, and pinched.

"jYou don't have to lend me yourr clothess jif jyou don't want. jI could rrun back to mjy sshjip..."

I opened the blanket and grabbed the zipper at my throat and began sliding the zipper down as if absently mindedly. I wasn't any good at it and I'm sure it looked awkward as fuck, but damn I was going to go for it! I let it slip down halfway to my navel so that the opening split would show a little something something. Not that it was showing more than the tight fabric already gave away, but still! Beck was gonna get a load of these stripes and scars one way or another. I should have probably warned her about the blaster hole scars. Those are usually really jarring for people. I don't know why. I think they look sick. A little cleavage and some scars. This felt like such an Abaddon power move. I could feel the blush growing, like my goddamn ear was going to catch fire. Oh goddess, this was a bad idea!

"Oh!"

Ori was already at her navel with the zipper pull when Tamera shifted her hand to stall any further downward movement.

"Clothes, food, then fun, I always say," she nervously laughed. "Well, sometimes I say that."

She'd never said that. She'd never even had a reason to say anything like that since the last time she'd even been with anyone had been... one... ? Two... ? Oh gods, it'd been five years. Five years since she'd participated in anything remotely intimate with another being. There'd been Clive, but he'd had the annoying habit of chewing too loudly and the first date was as far as she let him get. Then after Clive had been Joleen, but she had turned out to be a thief of the worst order (who stole bras and Corusca-Gem Light flavor packets, anyway?! That woman had been a menace).

Those memories washed away in the face of the here and now, and Tamera gave an encouraging smile to Ori. Ori who was Abby, Abby who was Ori. It was weird, but not the strangest thing that she'd encountered in this great big galaxy.

"You'll feel more comfy anyway, and I honestly don't mind sharing."

The cornucopia of snacks that they'd shared while on Centares immediately came to the forefront, and she pulled Ori with her.

"It'll be fun," Walking backwards toward the opening of the short hall that led to her room and the closet beyond, Tamera heard the first rumblings of a hungry stomach, making itself more than known.

"... I promise."

There it was! That reaction! She was so flustered. It was very cute. I couldn't keep the smirk from forming on my face. Thankfully the reaction came sooner than later. I wasn't sure I could pull that zipper down anymore than I did. It was all fun and games to tease a little but the action also brought on the dark realization that I had not been naked in a lit room with another person in a very long time. My rare moments of hot bangin' usually happened in the dark or to a blindfolded woman. You know, because they thought I was a cool dude in a suit of armor and it took a lot of work to maintain that image for a quick stress out sesh before putting the armor back on and moving on with my day. I don't even want to think about what's going to happen if things progress with Beck. I don't even have my kit with me.

I'd have to do it... naturally.

"Oh?" was all I managed as she grabbed and pulled me along after her down the hall and toward her room. It was giving me some real mixed messages about what was actually coming first on that list of hers.

Ori let herself be dragged rather easily, and Tamera was thankful for that at least. Stepping through the doorway into her room, she let go of Ori and sidestepped to her closet, opening it and practically diving in. A few pantsuits, a sundress she'd gotten at least fifteen years ago that she'd never worn, a bunch of old t-shirts from every speeder bike rally she'd been to on Nar Shaddaa (and a few on Toydaria). Along one side wall was a row of shelves with folded pants. Some slacks, some cargo workpants, and a mess of sweatpants. Those were her prize, and grabbing a pair, she pulled it out. It had a printed pattern of Stormtrooper armor on it, and the shirt she grabbed - a faded number from Cloud City Outfitters, were both shoved into Ori's now-empty hands.

"I'm going to order us some food, and you... "

She paused then, biting her lower lip in thought.

"... you get yourself into the proper attire for a lazy night."

That sounded so detached. It was like she was a robot.

"I mean, it's not going to be completely lazy, only just a little bit. Plus I'm hungry and plus we have the whole late afternoon and evening, and plus... "

She could go on indefinitely. Instead, she chose to end it with one more plus.

"... well, you know."

It had been so long since anyone had shone such an interest in her, and she felt only a little bit panicky. Like, the sort of panic that set in when one had no idea what to do in the face of the situation before them. She felt like a dewback, tossed into the seas of Dac during a storm.

Tamera gave an almost pleading grimace that was also a smile, and she reached up to take off her glasses.

"It's been a while, and I wouldn't mind getting to know you."

A strange thought then, as her brow furrowed a small bit in contemplation, and she cast a look back in the direction they'd come from; through the bedroom doorway and down the hall to where Ori's armor stood just out of sight.

"And well, I'd like to know about Abby, too."

Comfort meant the body suit was coming off. It might be practical inside the armor but it was a real pain to wear all the time. I was more of a naked kind of person when I was alone on the ship or living somewhere on my own, but I don't think that's quite what Beck had in mind. For now. The girl had a way of teasing with her words, like something was going to happen. I'd believe it when I see it, because most of my interests never pay off in the end; but I was damn excited at the possibility. It made my guts hurts just thinking about it. I know I was hungry, but it felt like my stomach was already full of anxiety and anticipation. Oh god. I hope I can eat. It'll be really embarrassing if she goes through all the hassle of ordering food if I just bat it around on a plate. Great. Now my anxiety is worse.

At least the outfit she picked out for me was cute. It looked comfortable. I kind of wanted to see her in it, to my honest. I bet she looked really good in sweatpants and a shirt. Casual and thicc. Shit. Think about something else. I can feel myself turning red again. Oh fuck. Now she's taken off her glasses. I think I liked her with them on more. The nerdy look was cute, but wow. She looked good without them, too! She might just be all around attractive.

Jackpot.

"Umm, well. Er... What would jyou ljike to know? jI'm not verrjy jinterresstjing. jI'm frrom Carsshouljiss Prrjime. jI don't talk to mjy famjiljy becausse they arre all buttholess. jI ljike ssnack foodss and Gunjhin Anime. jI'm mjissssjing an earr and a tajil. Nothjing sspecjial."

That was all that came to mind when I thought about who I was. That was pretty much it without spilling into a whole lot of messy drama about just why I hate my mother to such a degree that I've written off my entire species and how much I hope the Cluster falls into a black hole some day. The galaxy would be a better place without it. That's not interesting information. Nothing about me is interesting. She had followed up with the more important of the two questions. I guess it was nice of her to throw me a bone like that, but let's be real. She definitely would rather hear about Abaddon. Who wouldn't?

"Abaddon jiss a merrcenarrjy and bountjy hunterr. Doess a lot of worrk jin the corrporrate ssectorr for megacorrpss. Lotss of corrpss emplojy merrcenarrjies forr all sorrtss of thjingss. He ljikess bountjy huntjing morre but none of the Gujildss wjill gjive hjim memberrsshjip sso he hass a harrd tjime fjindjing legjitjimate jobss. He ljikess the LassTech V-sserrjies and the ssmell of therrmal detonatorrss. He ajin't sscarred of nothjing and he's prractjically unkilljiable. People have trrjied but none of them have been able to put hjim down yet. He alwajyss getss back up. He's crrawled out of a sshallow grrave morre than once. Nothjing can keep hjim down. He'ss jindomjitable."

I looked down as I shifted the weight of the clothes in my arms, and saw that I was holding my stomach right where one of my worst injuries had been. I moved the hand back up to help hold the clothes. It wasn't worth thinking about, but the scar was really cool. I'd have to show Beck later.

She listened, taking in the concise and yet somewhat colorful descriptions of both Ori and Abby. It was the quick version, it seemed, and Tamera found herself appreciating that fact. No fluff, nothing dragged out, it was easy to get in a few short minutes. Course, the afternoon and evening lasted a bit more than a few minutes, and she was determined to not squander this sudden influx of good fortune.

Fidgeting with her glasses, she gave a slow nod before once more putting them back on.

A thin smile that seemed more dumb than anything, and absolutely inappropriate considering the conversational topic. She let Ori take over the holding of the clothes.

"Get comfortable, then."

And then a strange thing happened. For her it was monstrously brave and presumptuous. A gamble of a sort. Her weird smile seemed to freeze, and Tamera gave a henh a few seconds later. Her shoulders did a mini-sag for a fraction of a moment, and taking a quick chance, leaned in swiftly to deposit a fleeting little kiss to Ori's cheek. It was - in her mind, a sweet thing. Of course it probably appeared as a gawking show of awkwardness to anyone else.

"I'm gonna go get us some food," she couldn't help that stupid dummy grin that was threateningly pulling up the corners of her lips as she backed away then, through the doorway and into the hallway.

"Just," a gesture to the clothes that Ori now held, "... yeah. You know. I'll make sure to get the Ackbar's Platter."

What. Just. Freaking. Happened!? WHAT!!??

I reached up and touched my cheek. I had to know it was real, I needed to pinch myself. This felt real; but, like, this was a dream scenario right? Cute cheek kisses, putting on comfortable clothes, and SEAFOOD!? I'd had this exact dream before. I mean, close enough. Stuff was different. I was Abaddon in those dreams and the girls have changed over the years but like, this was what I wanted back when I was a teenager. Before Abaddon. This felt too good to be real. Something was going to go wrong. There was no fucking way this just kept going up for me. I'm going to say something stupid, or she's going to find something she doesn't like about me; or find out she really likes Abaddon and not me. That would be fine, I guess. I mean, Abaddon is a lot cooler than me. It's kind of like her being into me. But not really.

With a heavy sigh I pulled the zipper on my body suit from my throat all the way down to my groin and carefully peeled the skin tight, sticky fabric from my skin. It was a process, let me tell you. If you don't pull it away from your skin before peeling it back you'll give yourself carpet burn all across your body, and considering how little I'm wearing under this thing that would be a lot of sensitive bits that I would rather not hurt like that. Especially if I was going to maybe get spicy time tonight. If I've spent a few days in the suit I have to use talcum powder and a spatula. Zero out of ten with rice, do not recommend. Once I got the suit off I folded it up into a ball because seriously I don't have the time to nearly fold it. It's practically impossible. It was a weird sensation to be standing here almost entirely naked in another woman's bedroom. It made me feel very... vulnerable. I almost wanted that armor back. The armor was safe.

The clothes were as comfortable as they looked. The right level of broken in and worn out from use that made them slip right on. They were a lot warmer than the suit, too, but I still pulled the blanket back over my shoulders. Before leaving the room I checked myself in the mirror on the back on the door and made sure my hair was properly scooped to the correct side, leaving the shaved side fully exposed. My hair was fighting to go everywhere, but when you've worn a cap for an hour there was no fixing it. I should have worn some makeup or something. Not that it would have been very effective. I didn't exactly get a lot of practice with the stuff. I just looked so... bland. No shine, no guns. Just me. Oh well. There was nothing I could do to improve this without cosmetic surgery to move some of my stripes and dots; but that's the sort of thing mother would do, and fuck her.

Stepping out of the bedroom I went back toward the front room looking for Beck. She couldn't have gone far.

She was sitting at the bartop counter, a datapad held loosely as she scanned its' contents. Mostly work-related, as she'd made sure to swiftly place their dinner order with Best of Dac. You usually knew that a place with a simple name like that, it would be good. And she'd had her fair share of experience with delivery. She was no stranger to the lovely menu that BoD had to offer, and Tamera called upon her unique experience when ordering this evening's meal.

Poached exosquidra in a sea-salt and cream dressing.

Ice-lobster tails with a spicy butter dipping sauce.

A Glottlefish roll with kosabi and su sauce.

And a Khasva roll with roe and fresh sea kelp.

Everything was billed as fresh, and Tamera knew that they paid a top dollar to have their ingredients shipped in quick-like. Otherwise she'd not trust the menu. It was a perk of her job. A perk that of course was related to food.

Looking up from her datapad, she gave a strange sort of smile to Ori as the other woman emerged into the main living area of the small quarters.

"You look a lot more comfy," she grinned, setting the 'pad down and swiveling on her seat to face her companion fully.

The fact that Ori still kept a hold of the blanket was not lost on her, and Tamera slid from her seat, gesturing to the temperature controls.

"I can switch up the thermostat if you want... ?"

I found her perched at the counter with her face in a datapad. Some sort of primal instinct inside me wanted to sneak up on her and grab her from behind, but she spotted me long before I could even begin to creep. She might have caught me this time, but I promise I will get that sneak attack one of these days. She doesn't get to cute kiss me on the cheek and just get away with no repercussions, dammit! I'm going to make her pay.

"No. jIt'ss fjine. Thankss. jI'll warrm up jin a mjinute. jI'm not ussed to bejing jin the cold. jIt's verrjy warrm jinssjide Abaddon."

It hurt my brain a little to finish that sentence. Inside Abaddon? That was not something I normally said at all. It hurt my head a little to even think about it like that. There was me, and then there was Abaddon. I didn't like the sound of being inside of him. It didn't feel that way when I put on the armor. More like I got to play as him. Inside of him makes it sound like I'm way more involved in this process than I am. I'm not that cool. Abaddon is, but I'm not. Ugh. I'll have to unpack this one later. Right now I want to focus on Beck, who felt like she was trying to focus on me; and I'm not sure I like the spotlight.

"How long have jyou been on Jovan? jI can't even jimagjine ljivjing perrmanentljy on a sspace sstatjion. Ssoundss wjild."

It was a question that slightly caught her off guard. The thought of however long she'd been on Jovan was also a thought that hadn't ever really occurred to her.

"Well," she switched the pad over to sleep mode,"... I left Nar Shaddaa with a friend, and ended up on Ossus for a few weeks."

She gave a shrug while sliding from the stool and heading for the main living area and the sofa that was in it.

"Found out pretty quick that Jedi are really too weird to live around."

Plopping herself down to sit, Tamera angled her head to the side so that she could look at Ori. The other woman hadn't opted to make a quick exit after the awkward display in the bedroom earlier, so Beck took a small amount of courage from that.

"It's one thing to read those check-out line Jedi romance books; it's a whole other thing to actually be around them."

She rolled her shoulders as she leaned back, one leg coming up to fold under the other as she settled herself more comfortably.

"So I left and came here. Been here for... well I'm not sure exactly."

"Jedji?"

Jedi? She spent time with the Jedi! That's so cool! I'd heard a lot from old spacers and people who claimed to know a guy who said they saw a Jedi once. Unparalleled warriors with magic powers and light swords that can cut through a starship as easily as it cuts through flesh. I've had some real good times with a high end vibroblade, and the way it slides through a body feels like magic already; I can't even imagine what something as sharp as light would feel like. I mean, I'd tried to get my hands on a lightsabre many times, but the Ezay postings always end up being scandals, ambushes, or some lonely middle aged woman trying to get people to show up for her MLM recruitment drive. Luckily for me I've always been way more equipped than the guys running the schemes.

I like to think I paid handsomely, in ventilated lungs!

It didn't take long for me to cross over after her and position myself above the sofa next to her; and caught myself about to do a hard drop backwards. I forgot I wasn't wearing the armor again. It was right there, by the door, looking at me with it's empty hole. Judging me. I gave it a glare, for good measure. It's not the boss of me. Not right now. Shut up, Abaddon. I'm not putting you back on yet. I guess I'd gotten so used to wearing it that I didn't even think about sitting down normally, and as I did so the comfort felt strange. I spent most of my time in the armor, sitting in grav couches, or in my hammock when I'm on my ship. I was always working, after all. It's not like I was stopping to sleep in soft beds or taking off the armor all the time. I needed that shit on most days. You never know when you were going to suddenly get in a firefight while your in line trying to buy smokes. It happens a lot.

Settling into the couch I kept a little space between us. I want to get my mitts all over that hot bod but I didn't want to freak her out. Things were going way too nice for that. So I kept to myself. Not too far away, though. I don't want her to think I'm not interested. Gawd! This is so hard! Just... right out of touch. I crossed my legs up on the cushion so I could fit all of my inside the blanket. I had to admit, I was feeling a lot warmer.

"What wass jit ljike ljivjing wjith the Jedji? jI've hearrd a lot of sstorrjiess. Thejy ssound sso cool. jI've onljy met a few fakess. Thought thejy could sscarre me off bjy ssajyjing thejy know how to usse the forrce. jIf thejy djid, then the forrce doessn't sstop lasserrss."

"They're a bunch of wet blankets," she laughed as she got more comfortable on the sofa.

Ori's leg, comfortably cocooned in her blanket, was a scant few inched away from her own. It was enticing and like a temptress asking for contact. So close, and yet so far.

To satisfy her own most likely imagined aspirations for closeness, Tamera hitched her own legs up to fold herself contentedly. Her knee rested ever-so-slightly against Ori's.

"All they do is teach little ones - padawans - I think they're called. And when they aren't doing that, they're up in their big excavated library or off meditating."

She had a notion of the grand stories of Jedi warriors that her Cizerack companion was alluding to, but in her time on Ossus, Beck hadn't seen a bit of that.

"They're like... " she settled just a little bit more, letting the weight of her leg rest a little bit more on Ori's, and with a quick neck crack, she let one arm drape across the back of the sofa, fingertips draping down and impossibly close to Ori's blanketed shoulder.

"... like a bunch of praying monks."

"That'ss... djissappojintijng."

What a cryin' let down. I had always thought those guys would be a bunch of B.A.M.F's like the stories I'd heard. I guess it's like that saying, never meet your heroes. Wasn't the first time the stories didn't live up to my dreams. Last time I met my heroes I lost my tail. But I guess that was kind of my fault, so I don't have too many hard feelings for Mandalorians but yeah, they were not what I expected. Nothing like in my shows. Kind of a bunch of assholes, really.

I felt the couch move behind me, and due to my amazing situation awareness, I knew she had draped her hand behind the cushion and out of my peripheral vision, which is also amazing, I could see her arm was very close. And it made my heart freeze. What do I do? I like it. I really do. But it was terrifying to navigate this... whatever you want to call it. A dance, maybe? I skootch closer, she gets closer, but do I make contact first or does she? I don't know. I've never been in this situation. Like, ever. It's always been Abaddon, and he doesn't pussy foot around. He takes what he wants. He's not a nice guy, and that's what the girls like about him. Lights off and anything goes. There's no safety word, there's no trust or respect, no feelings. There was nothing Abaddon could do to help me here.

I could feel his eyes on me. I looked at him, stared him down like the animal he is. I could feel him whispering into my soul. He said some really gross stuff that was bringing the blush back to my face. But he was right. I should do something instead of sitting here waiting for her to make a move. It's scary, and I'm afraid. Fine! If you'll stop nagging me.

Picking up my legs and adjusting my position I made a quick move to slip in closer, right up against Beck so that our legs overlapped while also lifting up my arm and grabbing her dangling arm and bring it down on to my shoulder. Now what? Oh now your being quiet? Asshole. Turning my head away from the armor I was suddenly very close to her. I could see all the small details on her face; faded scars, the texture of her skin, the finer details on her glasses. I was aware of her smell, her warmth, and the sensation of her hand in my own as I held it to my shoulder. I didn't know what to do; so I did the only thing that made sense. I kissed her. On the cheek. Just like she had done to me in the bedroom moments ago. Her skin was softer than I imagined. I lingered on contact, and as I pulled back I rubbed my nose against her face; being careful not to bump her glasses.

Oh god. Was that okay? I couldn't look at Abaddon for reassurance. I didn't want to look away from her face. From her eyes.

The kiss made her grin, a reaction that she simply couldn't help. Ori had scootched close enough that Tamera felt confident enough to clutch the other woman close with her arm around the shoulder. It was a strange sensation, but still a little bit scary. The sort of scary that made the heart race in disbelief. It had been a long time since she'd been with anyone, let alone had a quiet-ish evening with another body, that was for sure.

"It wasn't all bad I guess," she couldn't help but chuckle out as her free hand went up to rest on her cheek where Ori had kissed her, "... there was a Chiss there that made amazing sandwiches... "

Each word that she spoke seemed to bring her closer in, as her arm around Ori drew closer as well, and with a quick, nervous lick of her lips, Tamera couldn't help the almost laughing smile.

"...Amazing... "

And then her lips brushed up against Ori's...

I felt like a powerless starship in a target lock. She kept getting closer, and I was frozen in place. Her lips touched mine, and I didn't know what to do at first. Abaddon did a lot of things with his mouth when the helmet came off in the dark, but kissing was not one of them. Thankfully my body just kind of took over, and I found myself kissing back; the muscles in my back pushing me forward ever so gently, like I could somehow get more of her in my mouth by pushing back. I stopped before I could get carried away. There was a part of me that was afraid I wouldn't stop. I wanted this so badly. I never realized how starved for personal contact I have become after months of just me on the streets and in my ship, alone except for my quarry. Isolation is nice until it's not.

Pulling my head back I rested the tip of my nose on her's and looked her in the eye. My hand came up and stroked the side of her cheek, tracing the length of her jawline and up to her ear to rub the soft of her earlobe. My other hand had escaped the blanket and was entangled in the fabric of her sleeve. I didn't even realize it was there.

"jYou'rre amazjing..."

Abaddon was screaming now. I didn't want to listen to him anymore. His ideas were bad. I shut him off. I wanted to live in this moment. Maybe forever. My hand has escaped the gravity of her cute little earlobe and had wrapped behind it to slip through the locks of her hair.

Ori's fingers winding through her hair was a sensation all its own, and Tamera grinned at the feeling. Someone else's touch was always such a lovely thing.

They were both now nose-to-nose.

Usually she had some weird folksy kloo horn chill vibe music playing, but in the moment, there was nothing. Just the breathing of two bodies in the same space.

And the sudden trill of a door chime.

Their dinner.

Tamera bit her lip for a fraction of a second, then shot forward to press her lips to Ori's for a quick moment. And in the next, they parted.

"Let me get us some food," she grinned while untangling herself from the Cizerack beauty she had found herself with.

It wasn't long before she was standing, and she just couldn't help herself. Leaning down, she delivered a kiss to Ori's forehead.

The doorbell came as a complete surprise, one that jolted me in place and sent me into a fight or flight response for all of two milliseconds before I calmed down and remembered the food. I had completely forgotten about it. How was I suppose to think about actual food when I had a complete snack on my hands already. I would be lying if I said I didn't expect something bad to be at the door in that moment. This was going way too well for my luck. The way my luck works there would be a gang of Rodian slavers armed with thermal detonator kill switches waiting on the other side of the door. It's amazing how many times I've had to deal that.

Any thought of danger was instantly forgotten as she kissed me. Again! One was crazy, but a second one was something else entirely. I tried to say something, tried to force some kind of pink goop of words together and shove out my mouth, but she silenced me with another kiss on my forehead. I felt my ear flutter and my face blush again. Goddess, I hope the stripes hide it!

I hated that she was leaving, but I was really enjoying watching her go. My eyes were firmly glued to her hams and didn't break for a moment, even as I resettled into the couch. I was feeling warm now. Really warm. I pulled the blanket free and made a poor effort of folding it on to itself and set it down on the arm of the couch before trying to sit back in a way that was inviting and not closed off. One foot down, the other bent under. I flipped my hair back and forth to make sure it was sitting properly and hiding my mangled ear like it was suppose to. I wanted to look my best, as best as I could. For her.

For those hams.

The door whisked open easily to reveal a somewhat harried Nikto, holding two overstuffed plastic bags of packed food. She recognized him. It was Josiaka.

"Got a delivery for you, Tee."

"Good good."

A sigh, and he seemed to shrug the bags into Tamera's hands.

"Gonna be 43.76."

By some miracle, Tamera handed him a credit chit keyed to the amount, as well as a 30% tip. It made the Nikto pause, and he looked at her in surprise. She gave a shockingly fake smile.

"Tee... "

"You're at the right place at the right time," she cast a furtive glance back into her quarters, at the back of Ori's head as the other woman was fidgeting on the sofa. Immediately her gaze switched back to the delivery man.

"Just wish me luck, yeah?", and Tamera accepted the chit back in the only way that she could with both hands fully of food bags; with her mouth.

He smiled knowingly at her then, gave a mock salute, and stepped back.

The door closed.

When she turned around, she began the happy march to the kitchen area with both hands full and her teeth clenching her chit card.

"Ssmellss grreat."

The words fell out of my big dumb mouth as I snuck up behind her in the kitchen. Yeah, the comment was topical but I really just wanted an excuse to sneak up behind her as quietly as I could on my bare feet. I wanted to grab those hams, but that was for later. Instead I just grabbed her waist from behind suddenly and made of a big show of looking over her shoulder at what she had brought in from the door. It was silly, and kind of stupid, but it felt right and it was the kind of cutesy stuff I saw a lot in my Gunjin animes. Little cute girls doing little cute acts so they could get little cute head pats while making little cute faces. A lot of the time they were some kind of cat girl on top of it, which felt accurate in this moment, but usually just annoyed the crap out of me.

The closeness was an enjoyable feeling, and Tamera bit her bottom lip to hide a creeping grin that threatened to overtake her. Setting the bags on the counter, she began to liberate the contents with a slowness, relishing the moment.

There was just such a lovely mood to the evening so far, and she let her head loll to the side so that it rested against Ori's.

"You know," she couldn't help but chuckle, "... I gotta say I wasn't exactly expecting to spend this late afternoon and evening with... "

With admittedly still a stranger? It wasn't the craziest hookup she'd ever had, that was for sure. And honestly, Ori had come to Jovan even if it'd been in the area of her last job. Usually the sorts of impressions that Tamera made were of the sort that made folks edge away, not come back. And hoenstly? She'd never expected to see the Cizerack woman after they parted ways on Centares.

She let her grin overtake her then, as she popped open one of the plastic covers, exposing a perfect Khasva roll. She plucked one of the slices up, holding it delicately as she shifted it up and to the side, presenting it to Ori for the other woman to take a bite.

"... an evening with a dashing bounty hunter and the sort of gal that I think is just the coolest ever."

Tamera Beck. Queen of the Smooth Talkers right here, folks.

Cool? I think she had us mixed up again. Dashing? Definitely not. I was barely getting words out of my big dumb mouth. Hardly as smooth as Abaddon, who always knew what to say and do. He could punch through a wall, too. Which on the scale on cool to not cool, is pretty cool; and not something I can do at all. I think my wrists would explode if I tried.

I was going to say something back but my attention was immediately drawn to the delicious smelling food she was waving in my face. I took a bit, being careful not to bite her fingertips. That wouldn't be the best way to start the night, and I was saving the biting for later anyways. I chomped the bite thoughtfully between my teeth while I thought about my next words. It was hard to concentrate on the food with such a delicious snack between my fingers.

"jI have to admjit, thjiss jiss gojing a lot betterr than jI thought jit would."

It was all I could think to say. I'm not really much of a talker. Abaddon is. She was being kind of silly and honest, so it felt like I should say something similar back. Although, I think I might be a little too honest. I was really expecting this to blow up in my face. Either she wouldn't want to see me, or the classic; I'd find her in the arms of her boyfriend or something. Wouldn't be the first time I've had painfully awkward encounters with ladies I fancied from afar. Although, none of them knew what I looked like underneath the armor. They only knew Abaddon. That already put Beck and this encounter into a completely different category. It was all uncharted space from here and I'm drifting through the void without a suit and the danger of running out of oxygen.

What else could I say? That I've been thinking about this encounter every night since we met? That was totally too honest and not something I want to admit just yet. I want to at least pretend I have my shit together.

"Thesse ssort of thjingss ussualljy blow up jin mjy face."

"Well then, that makes two of us," she reassured while taking up a slice of the wrapped roll and plopping the who piece into her mouth. It was delightful, and it gave her motivation to open another to-go container.

A pair of Ice-lobster tails were revealed, as well as two small containers of the spicy butter sauce.

Both tails rested on a luxuriant bed of Ithorian spring keela leaves, giving the entire dish an exotic appearance that was as beautiful as it was delicious-looking.

"For me, stuff like this usually only lasts for a night, and that's about it."

Reaching over, Tamera pulled open a cupboard drawer and drew out two forks. One she offered to Ori.

"Here's hoping we both have some better luck tonight, yeah?"

A slight shift back to allow a little more room, and she planted another little kiss to Ori's cheek.

"Not to mention, the new season of Ghost Force dropped today on Holoflix, so that right there is already a sign of good luck."

"Ghosst forrce?"

I had no idea what that was, but it sounded kind of cool. It almost sounded like a Gunjin title. An elite group of teenage ghost hunters must overcome their angst in order to defeat the ninety-nine ghost lords of Undeath. Halfway through the season you find out one of the teenagers is a ghost lord, or the son of a ghost lord, and it's a whole thing. One of the teenagers won't stop winning long enough to pilot his ghost blasting battle mecha and gets his friends killed because of it. But by the end of the show he's so strong he gets to fight the Ghost King and wins with the power of friendship. Classic Gronnen protagonist plot. I'd watch it, to be honest. Sounds way better than that last one I watched.

"jI thjink jI'll need at leasst two njightss to fjigurre jyou out."

I replied very matter of factly before returning the kiss. If she thought for one second that I was going to sit back and let her out-cute me, she had another fucking thing coming! I am going to cute her so hard she's going to fucking die!

"Mosst people don't everr ssee me ljike thjiss, and jyou've sseen me out of the arrmorr twjice now; sso jI guessss we've got that gojing forr uss."

Twisting about so that the two now faced each other, Tamera couldn't keep the grin from her lips. Reaching up, she adjusted her glasses - a movement that was mostly unnecessary.

"Lucky for you then," she couldn't help herself then, and extending a single index finger, delivered a boop to Ori's nose, "... I have tomorrow off."

There was, of course, the matter of Ori not knowing about Ghost Force, and Tamera whirled right back around to take up the dish of lobster tail. She handed it off to Ori while gathering up the rest of their dinner.

"And Ghost Force, that's the best show on Holoflix right now. A bunch of ghost hunters go and explore old ruins and try to contact the dead. Last season they even went to an old Jedi crypt."

Her eyebrows seemed to waggle a little as she sidled her way out from the kitchenette area and out to the living area. She turned an eager smile to her companion, and it was easy to see how excited she was. Mostly because she was getting to share the experience. She'd never really been able to do anything like this before. Usually it was just her, her Cuddie (gotten on a late night HVC binge, plus the host/salesperson sad it was the most comfortable thing on the market), and a pack of gourmet muudabok cheese.

And for as nervous as she was, there was just as much excitement over the fact that she was about to have a night with someone she liked. A lot.

"They got a bunch of activity on their psymeters, and the K-pod they had with them was going crazy. And that's not even considering the holo-dot grid picking up a bunch of movement and their ghost-comms picking up all sort of chatter."

Oh man. It was like blowing a hole in a sea wall. The water just came flooding in but instead of angry squid people it was information and datapoints that I had no idea what to do with. The way she spoke about it, the excitement and passion in her voice, well I couldn't help but pay attention. She might as well have been speaking in a language I didn't understand, which was most of them if I'm being honest. I still tried to navigate the waters and pick out important terms to remember for later, but mostly I was focused on her face. How she beamed and radiated.

"What do thejy do when thejy fjind the ghosstss? Do thejy sshoot them?"

I knew that was the wrong answer but fuck if I could think of anything else to do. Seriously, if a ghost showed up in my home I'd shoot the shit out of it. I would use every blaster and explosive I had until either that thing was dead or I was. I'm not afraid of no ghosts, but I don't want to live with one neither. I took up a cross-legged position on the couch so I could balance the trays of food on my legs without fear of spilling it everywhere. Her apartment was pretty clean, by my standards anyways. I didn't want to make a mess or soil anything. The blanket was deposited over the arm of the coach; out of spilling range I would think but knowing me I would somehow manage to splash it still.

"Do the ghosstss fjight back? Ssoundss dangerrouss, and kjind of rrad."

I was going to have to check with the next bounty board to see if there were any jobs involving ghost hunting, and how well they paid. Could be a refreshing change of pace, and it'd be a good story for Beck. It would give me an excuse to come back if I had a cool ghost story to tell, right?

"You can't shoot ghosts, silly."

Settling herself comfortably, Tamera couldn't help but flash a goofy grin to Ori. The other woman was beyond adorable and sweet, and she was absolutely beyond happy to be spending the evening with her. Would it be the rest of the night?

Leaning forward, she plucked a bit of a roll from the plastic platter perched on one of Ori's legs. Popping it into her mouth, she chewed with particular gusto.

"Mmmf, so good," she managed to get out before swallowing at least half of it.

"A bunch of ghosts like to make life annoying," she got out after a second swallow.

"Usually it's slamming cabinet doors and sliding chairs around."

Taking up the holo remote on the side-table, she switched on the holo. It flashed for a moment before softening into a sort of easy white light and then darkened into the menu for HoloFlix.

"It's a fun show," she grinned, scootching just a little bit closer without making it seem like she was consciously moving closer.

Another grab for some food made her move seem more fluid and practical, and Tamera selected the program, hitting play.

I was pretty distracted by the food, the menus on the holonet, and the discussion on whether or not ghosts could be shot, but I wasn't THAT distracted. I noticed her scooching closer. The kid schemer played it off like nothing happened. That cute little punk! I'm going to get her back for that! We can keep playing this game the entire night if we have to.

In the back of my head I knew that, and would never admit, I kind of wanted her to just go for it. Just dive straight in. Whatever that was. I don't know. She didn't look the type, with her cute mousy little face. Total prey, and I'm the hunter that is going to snatch that up.

Popping a piece of roll into my own mouth I put my plan into work. Not really a plan. I wouldn't even call it a scheme. More a trick, I guess? The oldest one in the book. It's called using my other hand to reach around her back and grab her waist and pull her closer. An act made much easier by how far forward she was leaning in her seat as she navigated the menus on the holonet. My fingers found purchase right in the thicc of her waist and pulled her closer until we were properly smooshed together. I left my hand behind. No big deal, right? Wrong. It was there to keep her from getting away. She was trapped now, stuck with me and this delicious food and ghosts.

I looked sideways at her and gave her my most knowing smirk I could muster before sticking more roll in my mouth before turning my eyes back to the starting show. The team was introduced with names and titles, and one stood out to me...

"A medjium what? A medjium human? Ass oppossed to a larrge one?"

The arm around her middle was welcomed with a further scooch closer, so that the two were practically a single entity, occupying the sofa with a bevy of delicious food to accompany. Burrowing her way into Ori's half-reclined side, Tamera adjusted her glasses in a quick movement.

"A medium is like," she plucked another slice from the roll, but waited before popping it into her mouth, "... like a spirit talker. They can speak to the dead and are like a middle man between spirits and the living."

Happily, she shoved the entire slice into her mouth, relishing the crispy crunch of the crackly maturi breading, and the savory flavor of khasva, the salty roe, and the oceany notes from the sea kelp.

Swallowing, she let out a long exhale.

"Sooooo gooood.... "

Two of the show presenters were going on about how they had felt some sort of dark energy over Endor as they orbited the forest moon, but only half of her attention was on the program. The other half was fully invested in making sure that Ori fully appreciated the delights of their dinner.

Two fingers dipped into the dish that held the exosquidra, plucking up a spongy piece before dredging it through the cream dressing and carefully holding it up, sending it on a trajectory to Ori's mouth.

"Try this," she grinned, intent on making sure the morsel made it into her companion's mouth.

It was a like a flavor explosion in my mouth. If this was one of those Gunjin animations I would have stars hearts or some shit coming out of my eyes and shooting violently across the room. Total food boner.

"Oh damn. jI've been ljivjing on Veg-Meat rratjionss forr monthsss. Thjis jis ljike a parrtjy jin mjy mouth!"

Goddess, she was so nice and caring and beautiful. I didn't know how long I was going to be able to keep up this nice guy routine with how she was making me feel. Total lady boner.

Still, I was doing my best to watch the program and be invested in something she liked so much. The crew was going to Endor to investigate a feeling. It felt very irrational, but I was also having a hard time looking away. I wanted to see what happened next.

"JI've been to the moon of Endorr. Everrjyone thjinkss jit'ss all bjig trreess and teddjy bearrss, but jit'ss mosstly bjig monssterrss and blood ssuckjing bugss. Not a good tjime. Thejy get jyou ljike... thjiss!"

Twisting my head quickly I nipped at the side of her neck with my teeth and let out a little rawr before pulling back with a giggle.

Had she ever imagined this scenario when first meeting the masked figure of Abaddon? They'd ended up going to a noodle joint out of hungry expediency after a long-ish trip, and were ambushed by Reg. What had followed was the sort of namana-pants crazytown series of events that on the surface weren't exciting, probably, but under the surface it was just... nothing like what she'd thought would ever happen.

And now here they were. Ori and Tamera, watching Ghost Force, eating awesome delivery food, and halfway to a full couch-snuggle session.

When Ori leaned in to give her neck a playful nibble, there was a brief moment of surprise that was instantly followed by a silly - if not somewhat stupid - grin. She was still halfway paying attention to the program on the holo, but instinct drove her to grasp the other woman's wrist in a soft grip that pulled her back, and damning all the proton torpedoes in her mental arsenal, brought Ori in close once more, pressing their lips together.

I'd once stood too close to a seismic charge going off, and even with my helmet trying to filter the noise the shit blew my ears right the fuck out. The ringing silence was wild. It almost drove me insane. One of the most expensive operations I've ever had to pay for, and I've paid for a lot.

I wasn't expecting her to grab my hand like that. People usually only grab on to me when they want to fight, and at first I resisted and pulled back against her grip. I was unsure what she was trying to do. Was this a trap, or some kind of attack? And then her lips landed, and my mind went back to that ringing silence. Difference was, I didn't feel alone in it this time.

Struggling I tried to get my hand free but she held on tight. Damn, she was a lot stronger than she looked. I wanted to get my hand on her so badly, to push my fingers through her hair, and stroke her cheek, and feel her body, and so much more, and my other Goddess be damned Hand was busy balancing foot on my lap. With no leverage in the situation I pushed up instead, smashing my face into hers. Soft lips. The brush of her nose. The hard impact of her glasses. I finally pulled back, but only just barely. I could still feel her lips on mine.

"Now now, poppjit. jI thought we werre wajitjing forr afterr djinnerr... Goddessss, jyou'rre so hot."

She'd never had anyone refer to her as 'hot' before. A hot mess maybe, but never just... hot.

Tamera couldn't help the smile that formed from her previous grin, and she finally pulled further away. Not too much, though. One hand snaked down to pluck a morsel from the disposable food tray that Ori was balancing on her leg.

"Just wanted a taste," still she couldn't manage to wipe away the dumb grin, and lifting up the small, bite-sized piece of fish, she took half a bite, then held the other half up to Ori's own lips.

"Tasted good," was her cryptic finish.

Who was this woman? One minute she's prey, shy and quiet. So unsure of herself. And the next minute she's trying to flip the table on me. She got me second guessing every second, and I'm loving it. That switch energy is mad hot.

Before I could even say anything back she stuck a piece of fish in my face. Coolcoolcool. I'll play her game, but I'm going to bend the rules. Opening my mouth, I moved forward and overshot the fish so that I could suck the little morsel right off her delicate little fingers; holding her fingertips between my lips for a second before letting them go.

"Therre'ss plentjy morre to tasste." I shot back, matching her own cryptic statement with my own. This game was fun, but I wasn't sure how long I could keep it up.

Dialogue from the show pulled my attention, a group of people standing in an empty room talking into the air;

"Do thejy rrealljy expect a ghosst to talk back? Thejy sshould assk jit morre jinterresstjing quesstjionss jif thejy want an ansswerr."

One of the show's hosts, a barrel-chested Rodian, was holding some sort of sensor gadget up, while his partner - a rail-thin human with slicked-back dark hair - was talking to the empty air around them.

"Do you have a name?"

Silence.

"Did you used to live here?"

Silence.

There were a few other questions asked, but Tamera didn't pay them much mind as she smirked, letting her attention wander back to Ori.

"Oh, they're just asking the normal stuff they're supposed to ask in a haunted house. It's all just to get the spirit or Force ghost talking."

Plucking a bit of fish up from the platter that Ori still had balanced on her leg, she popped the delightful morsel into her own mouth and chewed with gusto. It was wonderful, as far as delivery went, and frankly even a fair shade more upscale that the sort of delivery foods she normally ordered. After all, tuber tots and a pepper and cheese nerfburger wouldn't do for guests; especially since that guest was Ori. No way - they needed the upscale delivery.

Swallowing, she gave a sideways glance to her couchmate, then.

"What sort of questions would you ask, then?"

"jI mean, arren't thejy onljy ghosstss 'cuzz thejy've got unfjinjisshed bussjiness or whatevss?"

I saw her sneak a bit off my platter and moved my hands to playfully defend the container from further invasions, giving her what I hoped was a sly side-eye and a grin.

"Sso jI'd assk them how thejy djied, or ljike jif thejy know anjy jujicjy ssecrretss. jI'm ssurre thejy got cool sstorrjiess of epjic fjightss and hot lajyss. Get 'em to tell jyou wherre thejy hjid thejirr ancesstrral ssujit of Mandalorrjian arrmorr. Rreal quesstjionss."

Damn, that would make for such a cooler show. Ghost tell 'em where the secret door behind the water vaporator that reveals a pristine suit of armor and a trove of weapons. That's the kind of ghost I want to find. Ancient and wise. Maybe teach me a mystic art or sneaky trick.

I could feel my fingers moving on their own as I grabbed more food and fed it to my mouth. I didn't want to look away in case the ghost appeared or talked or whatever. Something had to happen eventually and I wasn't gonna be the asshole that missed it.

"Doess the ghosst everr kjill the hunterrss? jI've hearrd sstorrjiess about evjil ssjith sspjirrjitss that'll ssuck out jyourr ssoul."

"Well- "

She was interrupted by an excited bit of chatter from the holo, and one of the hosts gushing over one of the beeping and clicks from whatever ghost-detecting gadget that had been put out.

"You see that?! See that green light?!! Look at it! It's a spirit!!!"

Another series of beeps and clicks, and the other host gave a second bit of excited narration.

"It's like a whole gathering! I bet we've got a council of sorts of ghosts!"

With an unthinking bite of another slice of her fish roll, Tamera chewed slowly as she listened, fully engrossed in the excitement of the show's hosts. She felt comfortable, completely satisfied, and happy to be spending this evening with Ori.

"I bet they pull out the holostation body-mapping app and try to see if they can pick up ghost bodies," she whispered after swallowing. In the same moment, she shifted herself on the sofa, sliding her legs back and tilting her upper body down so that she could share the couch with Ori as the little spoon.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from the goddess damned spectacle on the screen, I mean come on, somebody was going to get possessed or exploded any moment now. I was aware that Beck was moving behind me but it wasn't until she stopped that I realized she's positioned herself for me to sit against her. I found out by kind of falling into her. Fuck. I don't know what to do in this position. I could feel my ears flattening and my face warming. I felt like a little kid again with one of my dads holding me. It was NOT how I usually felt in these scenarios. Usually I'm on top, or dominant, or whatever you want to fucking call it. It felt a little demeaning but also like, it felt good. It was comfortable and something in me liked it.

I guess I just never knew I wanted this.

Scooching back I nestled myself better into her. I wanted to feel her close to me. I needed it. I liked big blasters, fast starships, and shiny armor, but that was a like. This was a need. I carefully moved my plate of food from resting on one leg to the other so I wouldn't knock it over; because that would be a real fucking damper on this moment. Reaching up I grabbed the side of her face and smooshed into into mine so I could give her a kiss on the cheek, and then blew a big raspberry right into the soft flesh.

Giggling to myself, I turned my head and settled back into my food tray and the show.

"Would jyou ljike to do that; huntjing ghosstss?"

It was a question that she'd considered too many times to count. The first time had been when she was still on Nar Shadaa, and would catch the grainy holos of another spirit hunting program called Force Files... or was it Force Spirit Hunters? She couldn't remember for the life of her, just that it was a group of students who jetted around to different planets to search for spirits and ghosts. Either way.

"I'd probably wet my pants," she truthfully admitted while giving Ori a little squeeze and settling herself more comfortably - or would one call it burrowing? She'd added her own touch to the provided furniture in the rooms the Alliance had provided, and Tamera was no slouch when it came to making sure her couch game was on point. There were two throw blankets draped over the back, and one of them was summarily pulled down over the both of them.

She was at least careful not to disturb the tray of food that Ori still guarded.

"There's probably plenty of ghosts here on Jovan, though. Down in the lower levels."

She'd heard a few of the crews talk about strange noises coming from the station's deep innards. They never seemed to want to talk much about it, and always changed the subject to something else. Didn't keep her from wondering, though!

"Who knows though," a hand snuck out then, to pluck a morsel of fish from the tray. She would it back up and to her mouth, popping it in with a satisfied 'hawmmmm' as she chewed.

Swallowing, Tamera licked her lips as she let her eyes travel to the holo for a few moments, watching as the hosts excitedly bantered back and forth. Of course, their chatter became background noise as she angled her head so that their cheeks were once more resting against each other.

"What about you? You hunt bounties... you ever hunted a ghost?"

Her contact made my good ear flutter between our heads. Little shit needed to mind it's own business and stop trying to cockblock me by being a spaz. If it didn't behave I was going to make some more bad decisions that would get it blasted off too! Ears. Tails. They just get in the way.

"Can't ssay jI've everr sseen a bountjy possted forr a ghosst. jI thjink people would usse ssomethjing morre local than botherrjing the Gujild. But jI'm not jin the Gujild sso majybe thejy get all of the jujiccy ghosst contrractss fjirrsst."

Stupid fucking Guild and their stupid asshole superiority. They will never let me in because what, I'm poor? I can't buy my way in and no one will sponsor me. I kind of hoped that maybe I could convince Fook to sponsor me but I don't think he wants anything to do with me. Sure feels that way with how hard he's made finding him to be. Little shit.

"Not ssurre mjy blassterrss would do anjythjing to a ghosst, but jI'd love to trrjy. jIf jit doessn't worrk then jI get a bjiggerr blassterr; and jI love bujyjing new blassterrss."

It'd been a while since I had bought a newer and bigger blaster. The Hadron Destroyer was keeping me company just fine but damn if there wasn't something special about getting your hands on a shiny new weapon. Feeling it up, striping it down, lubricating the rails, cleaning the barrel, and then taking it out for a test. It was damn near sexual and one of the few highpoints in my life. Speaking of which...

I moved the tray to my other hand, pulled the blanket tighter over my shoulder, and let my hand fall down on to Beck's thigh. There was no way in the 'verse I was not giving it a little squeeze. She was wonderfully soft and squishy. Just the way I like 'em.

"Majybe we could go ghosst huntjing ssometjime..."

The squeeze made her grin, and in reciprocation, she snuggled in just a tad closer.

Still though, she couldn't help but yawn. She did her best to cover it up though, with another bite of food. Chewing, Tamera thought about the proposition, and she had to admit that it was... well, it was a great idea.

"We could go to the lower levels, you know. Some of the older maintenance crews say that there's things down there, and they hate going deep down into those levels."

Snagging another bit of roll, she paused to stare off past the holo.

"They say it's not mynocks or anything like a critter. They swear it's legit haunted down there."

"jI've been underrneath Besspjin and Corrussccant. jIt'ss not... pleassant."

I don't know what it is with marks running into some of the darkest, dankest, most inhospitable places to hide from Bounty Hunters. They seem to forget that they are just dudes and I'm a fucking badass in full body armor. Guess who's going to survive longer environments full of molten grease, toxic fumes, and irradiated wildlife. Yeah. Me. Duh. I've had more than a few marks turn up dead down in those gutter holes, and the rest have either gotten themselves super sick or are so entrenched I have to blow them out. There's no way I didn't melt something important under Bespin but thank the Goddess I never found out. I ain't going back there for awhile if I can help it. That's for sure. Coruscant is a different fucking beast. Bespin ends eventually. Coruscant might as well be infinite. You just keep going down and every level gets worse. It's like descending into hell.

Jovan is probably a helluva lot newer and better kept than those shitholes. It's probably got straight corridors and catwalks with actual handrails. Can't be as bad as the others. Right?

"Ji'd be game. jI mean, sso long ass jyourr cute face jiss comjing along."

Oh goddess, I can feel my ear burning again!

Nuzzling into the crook of Ori's neck, Tamera grinned as she gave a sleepy nibble. She was starting to lose the battle with her ability to stay awake, but she would at least put forward the best of fights.

"I've got some time off coming up in about a week," she mused, "... if you want to stick around for a bit, we could plan our own ghost hunt."

She liked the feeling of Ori, nestled beside her. It felt... right. It felt so peaceful and calm, and this wonderful - if not unexpected - evening spent with the Cizerack woman was just... well, it was really perfect, wasn't it?

"I mean, if you can. It would be really nice, and I think it would be fun."

I didn't have my calendar right in front of me but I don't remember having any major contracts set up at the moment. Rath had been quiet for awhile, but that was nothing new. That shit lizard only called when he needed something, and the things he needed were never good. Paid well. Hell, my entire career was pretty much being floated by Rath's jobs and whatever amount of credits I've managed to steal from mother. Both of them were huge assholes and a pain in my own ass, but I had to put up with them to get by. Once I got into the Bounty Hunters Guild I was going to give them all the finger and never see them again

Why was I thinking about that again? Oh yeah!

"jI'm ssurre jI could sstjick arround forr awhjile. jYou know, jif jyou don't get ssjick of me."

Yeah. It's only a matter of time before she figures out what a massive piece of shit you are. There's no way a sweet babe like Beck just falls for someone like me. Fuck. A week? That might be too much time spent together. I'll have to find some local jobs to get me out of the house before I drive her crazy. Gotta try it. That ghost hunt sounds like a lot of fun.

I nestled back against her, and she offered less resistance before. Her grip on me was loosening. Turning my head just a bit I looked back out of the corner of my eye and saw the sleepy look in her eyes. I can't say I was feeling the same way, but my internal chrono was definitely not on the same cycle as Jovan. Hell, I'm not even sure if there such a thing as a cycle when you're on a space station with no sun in the sky. I haven't been on any single planet for a long enough time to adapt. There's no sense of time when you spend all of your time in a friggin spaceship.

"Hejy therre ssleepjy head. Do jyou need to ljie down?"

"I'm mostly lying down," she halfway slurred, relishing the feel of Ori against her on the sofa. It was so lovely, with the program on the holo, amazing delivery still on the table, and a warm body that she like to be nestled against ... well... nestled against her.

She wasn't too proud to admit though, that she was falling into the loving arms of Captain Slumber.

"Just stay here with me," she mumbled, "You're comfy and soft and... " her eyes were drooping, "... I like you."

My brain is empty. I don't even know what to think! My ear was flipping out again and my tail was doing that phantom limb bullshit. Shit. It was like I could feel it coiling around her leg. It hadn't gotten the memo that it was a blaster shoulder strap now or whatever that fucker did with it.

Turning around in my seat was a chore. I kept swinging my shoulders and arms out wide like an idiot, and moving my legs like I was trying not to step on anything delicate. I call it Armor Lag. My brain forgets sometimes that I'm not still in the armor, and her blowing my mind with three little words wasn't helping me be intelligent either. But I'm not wearing the armor, which means I'm a tiny, skinny thing that doesn't weigh much. I couldn't crush her if I wanted, so I turned around and smooshed myself against her again; giving her the lightest kiss on her cheek like we're mother fucking faerie tale princesses before I pressed my face into her neck. What am I supposed to do with my hands? I know where the stupid, horny part of my brain would like to put them, but like, I didn't want to do that right now. Instead I wiggled them through the blankets and cushions to wrap around her as much as I could.

"jI'm not gojing anjywherre..."