Blessed Burden

[Preliat Mantis]

JAKKU​

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The stench- he used the word due to the repulsiveness of the smell. The streets were dirty, the people were rude, and the air was filled with a thick screen of pollution, fog, and dust. Preliat Mantis didn't just stand out here, he was like a dirty stain on a white dress. Everyone here was small, leaner and not well-fed. Preliat had been fed a diet of grain and protein, so much to the point that he was a towering brute. His family, and his birthright of race, stood heads and shoulders taller than the local populace.

The black slacks and simple cotton shirt he was wearing did little to deter people from noticing him. The slugthrower on his thigh made nobody mess with him. That, and he had the physique of a God compared to these people.

He was looking for someone specific. He had been told she could help him- and she was some of the best in the business. He approached the garage where she was supposedly located, and stood there, and pulled his hair out of his face and back behind his head.

He had a Mandalorian accent when he spoke in basic.

"I'm looking for [member="Kyra Sol"]."

 

[Lief]

Clink, clink, clink...

As he stepped up toward the garage [member="Preliat Mantis"] would be met with the sound of ringing metal. A heat even more oppressive than the already scorching, arid state of Jakku was blown out through the main opening via a series of well places fans. A crude form of ventilation to be sure, but one which had not done her particularly wrong thus far.

Music seemed to blare from somewhere overhead, though between the whir of machines and the sound of the anvil it was honestly hard to fully differentiate from general workshop clamor. Kyra found herself whistling along all the same, the same few tracks on constant repeat over the shop-wide feed.

She had just got done with some basic metal shaping when the voice made itself known. Holding up a free hand to gesture that she'd be just a moment, she moved the piece she had been working on and set it into the forge via tongues. It had already begun to cool substantially from its initial heat, the wonders of modern forges was that you could control the temperature. Even in smaller shops like this one. As it began the first of many normalizing cycles Kyra set aside the tongues and strode toward the stranger with a small smile.

Compared to most who resided here, she actually looked pretty well. Nowhere near as tall as he, but she had strength to her stature all the same, well fed, surprisingly clear skin beneath the admittedly dirty streaks which marred her cheeks.

"Hey there, I'm Kyra." One hand shot out toward him, offering to shake by way of greeting, before she realized how much dust and scale particles had naturally begun to coat it. With a slight frown she wiped her hand on her trousers, not that it made much of a difference, before redoing the gesture over again.

"What can I do you for?" she asked, moments before making a gesture which would surprisingly shut off the overarching sound of music in the room. Soon all that remained was the soft hum of machines working in the background.

 

[Preliat Mantis]

Preliat shifted his weight and examined the woman thoroughly, before wrapping his hand around hers. His hand was like a viper, before he released her hand from his grasp. He looked around her shop, before he ran his finger along the edge of one of the worktables. Reminded him of his wife, her workshop at home. Amber eyes turned back to look at the woman.

"I was told you were the best around when it came to ship repairs."

He would've gone to his wife, but- circumstances and all. The marriage vows of only death separating them were true now. His expression grew somber before he rotated a small tool in his hands before speaking again. His accent was a dead giveaway of his heritage. Mandalorians had an accent, a particular one, when speaking basic. He had only begun to speak the shared intergalactic tongue for the past few months, since his tenure with the Silver Jedi.

"My Firespray needs quite the maintenance. Hasn't been touched in a while."

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

She gave his hand a quick shake, before dropping hers back to her side and listening to what the man had to say.

His accent was obvious to her almost immediately, what sort of spacer didn't know a Mandalorian when they heard one?, though all it did was remind her of the fact that she was chit when it came to languages outside of Basic. A little huttese and rodian from her days with the old crew, but aside from that she'd never really bothered to learn. Almost made her feel bad, but he was doing well enough she supposed.

"In these parts, the best around doesn't necessarily mean much. But you came to the right place all the same. Anything specific wrong with her, or just a general tuneup?"

Stepping around him, with a slight gesture to urge him into following, she headed toward the other side of her shop away from the forges where she'd be able to hear him a little better.

"Want some water? Or caf?" Unlike on Aurum, she didn't actually have much more to offer in terms of beverages but those two things usually encompassed most. She hated caf, always had done, but she knew that many wanted some while waiting on repairs and the like.

"You have a name, friend?"

[member="Preliat Mantis"]

 

[Preliat Mantis]

"Water would be nice, yes."

Anything to wash out the stench that he could practically taste in this decrepit place. He turned his head and examined the shop again, before he followed the woman into the back.

"The ship suffered a lot of damage during the cataclysm of my homeworld."

Pain and misery danced across his face. His mind may have been impenetrable by the force, but the pain and loss he felt every day could be read by anyone- even without the force.

"My name is Preliat Mantis."

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

"There's a water cooler over there, best water you're likely to get on Jakku and it's cold too."

She glanced him over as he spoke about the ship, paying attention to his expression when he spoke of the cataclysm. In a Galaxy such as theres, one wrought with danger and wars at every turn, it was no surprise for her to run into someone affected in so brutal a way. Didn't make it any easier to see though.

"Preliat," she reiterated, not bothering to give her own name since he knew it already, "Sorry about your home."

For a moment she tried to figure out which planet it could have been; he was a Mandalorian, that she'd already deduced, but truth be told she didn't pay much attention to what was happening on that side of the Galaxy. Never having been very good at the whole comforting thing, she opted instead to bring the conversation back around to the task at hand.

"You say she's a Firespray? Gorgeous ship, never thought I'd get to see one that was still running much less work on it. Get yourself some water, and we'll go take a look at her."

[member="Preliat Mantis"]