Born on the wrong side of Opportunity

[Fable Merrill]

Fable was spending a lot of time on Void Station lately. Not that this was anything new - she'd ALWAYS spent a large amount of time on the half-derelict, half-criminal hunk of space junk and gambling, at least in what qualified as her 'adult' life. It was easy to find work, it was easier to make money, and both of those things allowed her to live without mooching off of her mothers or the Clan. Fable didn't doubt that her parents wouldn't really care about supporting her, or would likely even really notice the financial burden given how Flynn had ascended to leader of their (honestly tiny) clan, but still, it was the principle of the thing.

And Fable had ever been willing to stand on principle. Her principles were one of the few things about the Galaxy that made perfect sense to her, mostly because when you got right down to it, they were a gut reaction to what everyone else was doing around her.

Weaving her way through a crowd of mismashed sentients with a duffel bag under her arm, Fable was making her meandering path towards the docks, from the gym. Could she, like her mom, work out on her fairly tiny ship? Absolutely. Did she want to spend all of her time on the Faux Pilgrim? Not a chance, even she could get stir-crazy. Besides - she'd gotten a nice payoff the night before. Damsel of Distress was a worthy shockboxing opponent, but even she'd been no match for the winsome (but terrible) Fatallica. Fable's shoulder was still more than a little tender, her legs hurt, and she had a bandage on a cut over her eye, but these were good injuries. The kind that provided a background noise of pain, but didn't impede her functionality. The dull aches were a reminder that she'd been in a fight, a reminder that she'd won that fight, and testament to her ability to dish it out and walk to the gym the next day.

Head held high, Fable tore into a candy bar and ducked down a side alley to avoid the crowds. The main thoroughfares of Void Station were a queen to navigate this time of day, but the more isolated sections? Totally isolated.

 

[Niysha]

"I can find a way to pay you. I just need a few days," Niysha pleaded. Pleaded. She had been Sith once, and here she was, begging at the door of a shuttle. The captain of the "ship" was having none of it. He scoffed and slammed the airlock door in her face. Without credits, the little Miraluka had no value to him (in a very literal sense).

For a moment, Niysha glared...which wouldn't have been particularly effective even if the pilot had been paying attention. It's really difficult to glare without eyes. The ship's landing thrusters ignited, blowing hot air in the girl's face as the ship began its takeoff sequence. She maintained her glare for several seconds, waiting for the ship to properly exit the hangar. Just as it did, she whisked her hand subtly in front of her, and there was a quiet snapping noise in the left rear thruster as it bore the craft hence. They made it maybe a hundred meters out the airlock shields before the right engine began to overcompensate, and the shuttle went spinning out of control.

Her petty revenge out of the way, Niysha sighed and turned to wander back into Void Station. Without a credit to her name and with a quiet rumble in her stomach, it looked like she'd be doing exactly what she'd said she'd be doing earlier - earning her keep. Hopefully there were some jobs on this craphole that didn't involve objectifying her body. Maybe she could work out some kind of double-blind between-

A huge blue shoulder bore her to the ground.

In her deep concentration, and with her slightly distracted Miraluka reflexes, Niysha hadn't noticed that she'd wandered off the beaten path. She also hadn't noticed the massive Rodian and his friends who were apparently too important to use simple "keep to the right" corridor courtesy. The big alien shouted something at her in Huttese, which Niysha did speak, but she was a bit too preoccupied to think about it. Instead, she simply gawked up for a long moment as the thug and his friends began to crowd around her prone form.

 

[Fable Merrill]

[member="Niysha"]

Fable turned a corner and blinked.

There were a couple reasons why a small crowd of young men might gather around what appeared to be a very intimidated blind girl in a dark alley on Void Station. One or two of them were maybe legitimate! All of the rest weren't, though. And, for that matter, there was no legitimate reason for that particular Rodian to have his buddies surrounding a single young woman, here. Fable would eat her hat if he'd somehow turned his life around. Moreover, she'd sure feel bad if he was involved in some sort of community outreach program and this was a charitable endeavor. But what were the odds of that? People didn't use Huttese to offer help, Fable wasn't even sure if there was a way to ask if somebody needed help in Huttese without it being a threat.

Fable set her bag down quietly and joined the group. Four of them, one of which was an entirely too large blue thing. Not the worst odds she'd ever dealt with. Razelle would have pointed out that two of them had vibroknives, and one the bulge of a blaster. Jatie would have suggested that Fable use her own weaponry to soften them up from ambush, and then engage. Mother would have already dispatched them silently and with some prejudice, if she'd even deigned to get involved. And mom's response? Well, Fable already knew that bit. She'd never forget it, it'd changed her life. A year or two ago, Fable would have repeated the line verbatim. Now, she knew that that wasn't her particular idiom.

"Excuse me?" Fable asked softly, putting a hand on the shoulder of the man with the hostered Blaster. He started, alarmed at the fairly diminutive young woman who'd just walked into the midst of them, mid-assault. He managed half of a 'Hey!' before Fable butterfly punched him once each in the throat and sternum - two quick little taps that didn't look like they came with much force, but the thug stumbled back gasping for what small amount of air his swelling throat and cracked sternum could manage. Two quick little taps, but they'd felt very much like getting kicked by a large horse with very small, very hard hooves.

Fable exploded into motion, twisting around as one of the other men swung at her with... a pipe? A bar? No matter. Fable flowed around his arm, locked her legs around his neck, and bore him to the ground with her full weight. A crisp snap spelled the end of some important bone in his shoulder, and hopefully his career as criminal muscle.

The Rodian turned and ran, leaving one guy holding down a Blind girl that he hopefully wasn't stupid enough to use as a hostage.

 

[Niysha]

When one is a tiny girl, one does not underestimate one's own kind. Niysha wasn't as surprised to see a little shockboxer, judging by how she moved, kick the living hell out of two guys in six seconds. The fact that she was getting help at all from some back-alley vigilante was much more surprising. The huge Rodian who was bearing down on her ran for safety as his friends were systematically dismantled right before Niysha.

Out of four guys, only one was left holding onto her. Grabbing Niysha's wrist, he reached to his side to pull a vibroknife, and the Miraluka reacted immediately. She gave a subtle flick of her wrist, drawing on the fear that had become her very existence to protect her own craven hide. The weapon went clattering across the floor, as if he had clumsily dropped it in his haste to draw it.

The surprise left him vulnerable for a moment, and Niysha brought a knee up into his groin in that moment. She followed by driving both palms into his chest to push him away, then backed up, physically closer to her diminutive savior. She said nothing, instead taking in the world around her. The two men the girl had obliterated were conscious, in pain, and staggered from sensory overload. The other man was mostly confused, and a bit afraid. The Rodian on the run was obviously quite terrified.

The girl, on the other hand...was calm. Her purpose was clear, and she applied herself to it without concern or even higher-level thought. It was difficult to read her if only because she was too simple. What you saw was what you got. She had seen a place where a hero was needed, and had stepped up to provide that with all of the valor and valiance in her heart required of a holovid star.

Niysha honestly wasn't sure if she was more awestruck or annoyed.
[member="Fable Merrill"]

 

[Fable Merrill]

[member="Niysha"]

Fable was, in fact, very calm - mostly because she wasn't planning on committing a murder tonight, and if she started to let her temper sneak loose, then it'd very quickly get the better of her. Did that make her less effective at disabling people? Yes, in fact. Very much so. But she'd manage. It was the right thing to do.

Thankfully, the Blind girl showed a bit of initiative and ran away from her clumsy, would-be hostage-taker. Good. She was better in this situation that Fable was, though Fable mostly just noted that the man was semi-disabled and the girl was backing away from him. She didn't even think or consider her next move. Fable stepped in towards the last man standing, her face a plain and almost tranquil mask. One hand grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him down into a brain-rattling headbutt. The pain flowed through Fable, her senses briefly dazed by her own attack, but the jarring -thunk- of skull meeting skull had left her opponent worse off than she was. He fell into a heap, Fable placidly watched as the Rodian hustled around a corner hastily enough that he briefly lost his balance.

His memory was as long as hers. Fable struggled briefly with the reflexive urge to chase him down and take his other eye. Instead, she turned to consider the girl they'd been about to bodily harm. She looked fairly untouched, if flustered. Good - this was a flustering situation. "I'm sorry that you had to help." The clone offered, sounding genuinely apologetic... but perfectly pleasant. Friendly. Like she hadn't just dismantled three men and quite deliberately given them injures just serious enough to ensure they'd need to go to the hospital.

One of them groaned. Fable, almost as an afterthought, pulled a large trash can over on him as she stepped over.

"Are you hurt?" She asked gently, giving the girl a bit of respectful distance. Fable had already pulled her duffel bag back over her shoulder, and offered the Miraluka a candy bar from her pocket.

 

[Niysha]

Yep. Not an ounce of complexity here. It was probably a good thing this girl's head was so empty, or else a headbutt like that might have damaged something. Niysha stood up straight and ruffled her clothes out, giving a quick nod. "I'm fine. Thanks for the help." Almost every fiber of her being was screaming at her to kill each and every one of these idiots while their guard was down, but logic always won out over passion in a Miralukan mind. This young lady had helped her because she looked defenseless, and she'd left all of the muggers alive. She was likely a self-styled hero, with a strong sense of morality. Murdering her attackers would win Niysha zero brownie points with her protector.

Or, as it seemed, candy points. The blind girl was starving. She took the offering without an ounce of hesitation and had it wolfed down in seconds. No nutritional value, sure, but it gave her stomach something to do. When she finished, she made a conscious effort to "look" at the busty little fighter who had saved her from a moderate amount of distress. Her smile came off as very muted without any eyes to emote with it. "Do you often wander through back alleys righting wrongs and rescuing damsels, or did I just get really lucky?"

Niysha's Sight continued to pour over the other girl. She was a mess. There was so much anger in her that it should have been boiling her skin, but she kept it contained... somehow. There was a permanent streak of bloodlust in her aura, but it was too weak to have been used more than a few times in her life. She was emotional and moody, with the colors around her heart a wavering blue rather than the valiant and temperamental red that Niysha would have expected from such a bold individual. There was also quite a bit of "wrong" strewn through the shades of her essence, the likes of which Niysha had only seen in her old master's mecha, but that taint seemed to have not the slightest bit of control on how she acted or felt.

She could stare at this one for hours and still have no idea what she was looking at.
[member="Fable Merrill"]

 

[Fable Merrill]

[member="Niysha"]

Fable considered the girl for a moment, and decided that she was A) kind of too adorable to leave in the streets and 2) pretty hungry. Hungry in a way that'd made her attack that candy bar, hungry in a way that meant that the only thing she needed less than candy was literally nothing. Oh, and blind. She didn't even want to think about what being homeless did to a frizzy mess of hair like that'n. "Oh, yeah - no, not really." Fable replied honestly, glancing away from the blind frizz-ball to the three guys in various states of dismantled groaning.

Did she get into a lot of fights in alleys like this? Oh Force yes. She got in fights all the karking time, and for varyingly stupid reasons. These guys could have been passing a joint back and forth, and Fable likely would have wound up standing over them much like she was right now. The motivation to help somebody was a nice bonus, but somewhat unusual and largely unimportant.

Fable's thoughts looped back around to the matter at hand, not that they'd wandered very far to begin with. "Oh, I'm sorry." She realized, sounding slightly startled. "My name is Fable - uhm." She paused briefly, looking the Miralukan over as politely as possible. Not that it mattered - she was blind, idiot. She can't see you checking her for injuries. "You look hungry. I've got food. Wanna come over for dinner and a shower?" Fable offered gamely.

 

[Niysha]

When prompted for a name, Niysha still had that moment where she didn't register which name to give. The moment shortly after that one, of course, was when she remembered that she'd taken pains to forget her original name. She replied slowly, behind something that might have been a shy smile if her eyebrows were visible behind her blindfold. "Niysha." Not a Miralukan name, honestly, but she wasn't entirely sure if this girl knew what a Miraluka was, or was aware that this was a Miraluka. She didn't feel the need to correct her.

Food.

"Oh Force please yes," she rambled out, a much more eager smile on her face. "I'm sort of between jobs, and...yeah, it's been a while." A warm meal and a warm shower sounded fantastic right now, though she'd need to find a place to stow her lightsaber to keep Fable from seeing it. This girl was mildly Force-sensitive, by the strength of her aura, and she might well have just been hiding her affinity well. A lightsaber might give her pause. A red lightsaber might give her some very specific ideas of what was going on with this new friend of hers.

Hm. Apply self. Project humility. "I wouldn't want to impose, though. I'm sure I could find something out here, if you don't want to have to justify bringing a street rat home to your parents." Assumption: Fable lived on this station. She looked to be about Niysha's age. Late teens, at best, though the momentous girth in her top would have been pretty weird for a teenager. "If you're offering, though, I'm accepting," she finished and tried to straighten her hair.

It was a valiant but futile attempt. Still frizzy.
[member="Fable Merrill"]

 

[Fable Merrill]

"@Niysha." Fable tasted the name, let it roll off of her tongue. Initial assessment? She liked it. It was a fun quick name with an unusual shape to it. It was very important, when making a friend, to ensure that you liked saying their name - that was why pet names and nicknames existed, of course. Fable offered a winning smile that her winsome new friend couldn't see, then took a step down the alleyway. "I live on my ship. You're not imposing." And those were the facts of the matter. Fable tilted her head to one side slightly. "My parents live on Taris right now, anyway."

The guy with the gun and about thirty percent of the oxygen needed for normal function put a hand on Fable's boot, startling her. She'd been so focused on friendship and not fucking up conversation that she hadn't noticed that he hadn't passed out. Although Niysha's blind eyes couldn't see it, Fable's features briefly contorted into a mask of blind, animal fury - like a dancer, she lifted her other leg and turned on the ball of her foot, driving her heel down on the wrist the man was using to invade her personal space. Flesh and bone were poor obstructions against the kind of force that Fable was growing into, and she didn't pull her punch this time. Flesh and bone - the former was all that kept the latter from being reduced to a fine powder under Fable's heel. The thug gave a soft gurgle of agony, the lack of air and surplus of pain pushing him into passing out.

Fable briefly glared at the other two men she'd disabled, as though she were daring them to move. Realistically, though, that was too complicated - she was waiting to see if she needed to finish the job, Niysha briefly forgotten. They both had the good sense to play as dead as possible for the full minute and a half that Fable spent staring balefully at their broken forms, every inch of her body flushed with tension and fury just begging for a release.

Time gradually started happening again, as Fable's higher thoughts timidly began working. With great reluctance, she turned her head back towards Niysha and cleared her throat. "...Sorry. I've got mostly ribenes, but there's some curry left over." Fable volunteered politely, leading the way out of the alleyway and off towards the docks. "If you're a vegetarian, that's fine." She added for good measure, trying to be considerate. A lot of the girls she worked with were on a vegetarian kick, enough that Fable had been considering it. Not that being a vegetarian was all that difficult when you lived in space.

 

[Niysha]

Aura vision was interesting, but sometimes the things you saw with it were downright terrifying. Auras tended to have one of three "colors" to them, a term adapted from Basic because it had no meaning to the blind. Blue for good guys, red for bad guys, gray for the undecided. This girl was very gray most of the time, with flecks of deep, blood red playing through her spiritual essence on occasion. For a moment, though, she became virulently ferocious and crippled a man out of sheer rage. Niysha visibly recoiled, but thank the Force this freakish rage monster was too angry to rely on her senses at the moment.

Compose yourself.

That man wasn't dead, but he was certainly never going to recover from that. Niysha, in the interest of not winding up in the same boat, gave as close to a pleasant smile as her eyeless face could manage. Fable wasn't acting like anything was wrong, so why would the blind girl? "I can't remember the last time I had real meat. Nutrient paste is all they serve on budget passenger shuttles. It'd be fantastic to taste something that came from a living creature at some point in the past."

Keep focused. Keep her engaged and calm. If she gets angry she might very well turn you into nutrient paste. Adekos had taught her little, but the two of them had at least a few things in common. A preference for fear as a favored emotion over rage was chief among that. Self-preservation was the highest goal of a Sith. Power was useless if you were dead when you achieved it. And now...power wasn't even in the cards. All Niysha cared about was not getting crushed into bony powder.
[member="Fable Merrill"]

 

[Fable Merrill]

[member="Niysha"]

Fable nodded in agreement, and a moment later, realized that she was a complete idiot and somewhat sheepishly added "Yeah. Meat is... good." Controversial statement of the year, that, but somebody had to say it. Fable mentally adjusted her objectively high-protein diet, adjusting for the added weight of another person. Then she realized that she didn't really budget at all, and figured she had something decent left over to host the blind girl with. Mother had tried to get her into writing her nonsense down to organize it, but that was too much hassle. Fable wasn't much of a writer, and she had spent the bulk of her life flying by the seat of her skirt.

And speaking of flight, the years had not been kind to the Faux Pilgrim. The squat little CEC XR-95 had recently gotten a fairly fresh coat of paint, but Fable was somewhat forced to admit that it was somewhat akin to taking a beloved pet to the park and giving it a heaping plate of some delicious treat in the twilight of its life. Even Mara's brutal minstrations had only been able to extend it's life so far, and Fable was far from a capable mechanic by any stretch of the word. Whatever quirk had blessed her mother (and, she heard, her grandmother) with that particular talent had apparently been filtered out by whatever tube Fable had been poured out of. Nevertheless, it was hers, and she managed to look almost proud as she led Niysha up the ramp and into the ship's interior.

Compared to the outside, the inside of the Faux Pilgrim was downright homely. Fable had learned well from her mothers, when it came to turning a junky old freighter into a serviceable house - the air was sweet with incense, the floors were clean, the furniture well-worn and lived in. It wasn't three steps into the ship before Fable stopped to unlatch and slip her boots off, setting them and her gym bag into a small alcove before stepping onto a fluffy blue carpet. "Make yourself comfortable, Niysha." Fable invited cheerfully, crossing the den/kitchen/workout room in a couple long steps to kick something under the couch. Without her coat on, the pouch on her hip holding her lightsaber was very clearly apparent. "The shower's down the hall to your left. First door."

Fable had some cooking to do. Once she learned how to properly cook for two people, since Raz or mom usually handled that when they were the second person.

 

[Niysha]

Space travel was terrifying when all you could see was the Force. Being stuck in a can of dead matter with an X-ray view out into the infinite nothingness of space reinforced just how tiny one was in the larger galaxy. It was, from what little Niysha understood about her people, a closely guarded secret that most hated space travel. Fortunately, it was super easy to hide your reactions when you only had half of a face. The young Sithling (if she was even that any more) stiffened at the sight of a ship, but otherwise didn't react much. Fresh paint was lost on her. Tattered plating was lost on her.

The smell of a home was not. The sound of quiet music and muffled footsteps on a rug. The subtle warmth one didn't find in a space station filled the air, thawing the cool of Niysha's skin. She almost felt like falling into that couch, but thought better against it. She smelled like public transportation and the slums, so that shower sounded like a great idea. Down the hall on her left, first door. Before she wandered off that way, she shot Fable a genuine smile, much warmer than her eyeless face usually let on.

A shower was a luxury she hadn't had in weeks, at least. Niysha made sure to hide her lightsaber somewhere it wouldn't be easy to find, put her clothes in the laundry receptacle to wash while she was getting clean, then fumbled around the settings until she found something that wasn't too hot or too cold. It was still too hot. Turns out things that don't have auras are indistinct at best. Whatever. Hot water was soothing on her grimy skin. She stepped out twenty minutes later, fluffed her drying hair, and got dressed again. Blindfold last, then lightsaber, hidden in her jacket.

She had no problem finding her way back to the living room, then finally collapsed onto the couch with a smile and a contented sigh. "...Thank you, Fable. That's the first bit of comfort I've had in a while."
[member="Fable Merrill"]

 

[Fable Merrill]

Company!

It was exciting, in a way. Fable hadn't had a guest over in weeks, besides Fabula. And she was hardly judgmental when it came to the conditions Fable lived in - that was the trade-off of having somebody who accepted whatever you did. They're almost impossible to make a good impression of, because the good impression is kind of an assumed and nigh-permanent thing. Fable stole a brief glance towards the shower as she heard it begin running, and a thought occurred to her. Niysha was, by far, the curliest-haired woman to ever set foot on her ship. That was kind of cool, in a way.

The momentary thought glued her feet to the floor for a moment, Fable being a machine that was exceedingly good at doing maybe one thing at a time. And then the thought was over, she could move again. Fable's bare feet padded quietly and swiftly across the floor of her ship, running several errands as fast as possible. The first was to light incense, which she'd learned was practically always a good idea. The second was to put something on to cool. After a brief, agonized struggle between whatever cheap protein-laden junk she typically ate and the nicer, fancier protein things that she got for special occasions, Fable decided that having the curliest-headed girl she'd ever had on the Faux Pilgrim warranted something a bit nicer than soy and krill. It warrented the slightly fancier, meat-shaped soy and krill with the good flavoring. In short order, a stew was simmering merrily in a pot, adding to the bouquet of aromas she was deliberately cultivating.

Mostly because in in holovids, the stylish masters with no eyesight had their other senses turned up to compensate. If Fable was blind, she figured that she'd want the world to smell really good. And there were few places that smelled worse than Void Station.

Resolved in her hostess abilities, Fable put her hands on her hips and grinned as she looked out over the common area of the ship. Things hadn't been that dirty to begin with, but everything that couldn't be wiped down with a rag had been shoved in a closet or drawer. The room smelled like festive herbs and mostly-home-cooked meal. The mostly-unused beds in the mostly-unused 'crew chambers' had fresh sheets on them, so Niysha could take her pick of either and be comforted by Fable's superior homemaking skills if she chose to catch up on some sleep.

Yes. She was absolutely destroying this scenario. Who thought hosting a new friend was hard? Fable had taken the challenge and was winning by brutal knockout.

A door whooshing open and the smell of steam, soap, and a strange girl followed - Niysha was done with her shower. Almost startled, Fable nearly lept out of her skin before catching herself and offering a smile and wave that left her feeling slightly foolish. Duh, idiot girl - she's still blind. "I-It's no problem." Fable promised cheerfully, if slightly awkward. "The condensers basically produce infinite water, I think? So it's not like you're, uh, putting me out." She wasn't especially sure on the particulars of the matter of how her ship actually worked. Mara had tried explaining some of it a couple of times. Fable remained convinced that the bulk of the ship worked through magic, and that was about the extent of her technical knowledge.

Fable set a steaming bowl of basically-beef-stew in front of Niysha, along with a tall glass of what could be generously and accurately called 'a bubbly orange drink'. It was too sweet for Fable - and Fabula, actually - but everyone else she'd had on her ship seemed to like the carbonated orange beverage a fair bit. "I hope you're hungry!" She chirped merrily.

"I seriously hope." Fable added a moment later, sitting down in a chair with her own heaping bowl cradled in her hands. She sounded quite serious. "I made way too much, and this stuff doesn't taste good as leftovers."

 

[Niysha]

Ah. More gruel. Well, at least this was seasoned gruel, which was a damn sight better than Niysha had had for a few days. Fable had put legitimate effort into this slop, and Niysha was hungry. Not quite starving, but very hungry. She'd been on one meal a day for...oh Force, how long? Holding down a job was next to impossible with no marketable skills and the appearance of being blind, which meant she didn't normally have enough money to afford multiple meals a day. This one was free. She was going to eat her damn fill. Whatever that orange stuff was, it clashed a bit with the protein stew. She'd deal with it, because she'd just downed another glass of it.

It took her a few minutes of tearing apart a bowl of slop with the only sounds in the cabin being her own ravenous hunger noises to finally calm down. The little Miraluka swallowed and smiled at the woman who was putting her up for the night moment. "You're very generous. Is there anything I can do to earn my keep?" Never leave yourself indebted. Friends were acceptable - even favorable - but debtors had a habit of calling in all of your favors at the least opportune moment. Niysha had no reason whatsoever to allow this psychotic rage monster to have leverage over her life.

As she waited for a reply, Niysha noticed that her blindfold was a bit too tight. She reached back to pull it just a bit looser, a process that took several seconds. It didn't quite show off her empty eye sockets, but it at least verified that she did in fact have eyebrows. All the while, the Sithling's own vision wasn't obstructed in the least. She could still see the entire ship around her, from the dead, transparent walls and floors to the sparking electrical currents of the wiring "hidden" behind every panel and wall. There was a...vertical pole in the cargo hold. Don't jump to any conclusions, girl. Surely there's an explanation that doesn't involve this madwoman being a psycho murder-stripper.
[member=Fable Merrill]

 

[Fable Merrill]

Fable shrugged, then again felt like an idiot for shrugging at a blind woman. STUPID. "It's really alright." She promised easily, stirring a bit of what looked like red pepper into her 'stew' to flavor it. What could she possibly need? She kept the place tidy enough on her own, and if [member="Niysha"] had money then she likely wouldn't be so eager for a free meal... or, indeed, on Void Station to begin with. Besides, she was blind. Sweeping the floors was not only something Fable didn't require, but it seemed almost cruel to ask it. "...unless you're a mechanic, but I don't... think you are." The clone added after a moment's thought. Niysha had soft, nerdy-looking hands and arms, Fable doubted she did much real work with them.

"Don't worry about it." She declared honestly. Keeping track of debts wasn't really in Fable's nature, so she didn't try. "I'm just glad for the company, so long as you don't steal anything." And that was the honest truth. The girls at work tended to make themselves scarce when Fatallica was in town, and Void Station was, stem to stern, a garbage place to make friends.

 

[Niysha]

Shaking her head, Niysha almost began with 'my master,' then caught herself. Let's not tip this girl off to being Sith, right? "A friend of mine was going to teach me a thing or two about machines. Then he went and died on me. You probably know more about keeping a ship running than I do." Then again, Niysha did know quite a bit more about the current contents of said ship than any human might have. Electrical signatures, power fluctuations, energy fields...all bright as day, if she focused hard enough to discern them. Maybe she could help with that, after all.

Well, whatever. She'd wait until Fable asked her to. "You don't have to worry about me, though. Not touching anything I'm not allowed to, and I'll be out of your hair the second you ask." Her smile was mirthless. Being cast off was almost a pastime for Niysha by now. She reached down to finish obliterating her bowl of warm, semi-flavored food, showing her gratitude by devouring everything within reach.

When her bowl was empty, the Miraluka leaned back against the couch and fluffed her hair out a bit, helping it rest over the band of her blindfold, rather than under it. "You said your parents live off-world. Are you just visiting?"
[member="Fable Merrill"]

 

[Fable Merrill]

Visiting? Eh? Fable puzzled over the question for a moment, wondering if [member="Niysha"] was under the impression that Fable didn't live by herself. Did she sound that young? She was a fully mature seven years old, thank you. "No? I live on my ship, basically." She explained with a shrug, sipping her drink to clear her palate for more spiced protein slop. "I'm mostly a shockboxer. It's easy to find work on Void Station." And that was about the end of it.

Fable stood and started clearing the table, enjoying a chance to stretch her legs and work off a bit of the energy a stomach provided. Rather than sit back down, she leaned against a wall and folded her arms. "Anyway, if you need, like, a place to stay or whatever, I've got a spare room with beds in it. You seem sane, and I don't mind company." Fable offered. It seemed like the nice thing to do, and she did like to be nice. Besides, being homeless or close to it SUCKED. "Until you get back on your feet, or whatever."

 

[Niysha]

Look at her, being a responsible young adult! If certain humanoid yetis were around, they'd be very proud of their little catastrophe.

Niysha gave a quick smile and a nod, remaining still on the couch. She had to consciously turn her head to make sure she was still 'looking' Fable in the face, or else she'd likely come off as vaguely off-putting. Actually, she was probably pretty off-putting as it was. No reason to make that any worse. "Thanks. I'll try to stay out of your way. I don't make a lot of noise."

The stew was beginning to fade in the air. The smell of incense permeated, and that was almost as great as the scent of warm, seasoned quasi-meat. It took Niysha a few moments to remember when she had felt this relaxed. Just after she'd been picked up by Adekos, as far as she could recall. Which was bizarre, because this girl was insane...or at least her aura made her seem insane. All things considered, she was one of the most pleasant people Niysha had had the pleasure of interacting with for months.

Though, come to think of it, she did seem pretty distressed by the whole blind thing. Her aura was tinged with a bit of awkwardness, as if she was being too cautious all the time, and it wasn't in her nature. The Miraluka raised one eyebrow, making it visible beneath her blindfold as she smirked at Fable. "Won't be visible often, either. So you don't have to worry about worrying about offending me."
[member="Fable Merrill"]

 

[Fable Merrill]

Fable had been about to say something, but [member="Niysha"]'s statement temporarily locked her brain and mouth in place. Worried about worrying about worrying? Was she that obvious? How did Niysha know? Was the anxiety just quietly baking off of her like a cheap perfume? If a frog had wings, would it bump its butt?

Idiot girl. Focus.

Fable rubbed her forearms, finding a VERY INTERESTING spot on the floor to turn all her attention towards. "I think that's more a 'me' problem than a 'you' problem." She chuckled awkwardly, pushing herself off of the wall. Fable didn't go anywhere, she just thought a little clearer when she was in motion. Usually. "You don't have to hide or nothing, I'd be a really crummy hostess if I expected that."

Deep breath, moron. Fable folded her arms and found a chair Niysha's couch to throw herself into. "Unless I have 'company' over, I guess." She realized. Razelle would likely go crazy if she came by and there was just some random woman that she hadn't vetted staying in the spare room. She wasn't jealous or anything, she'd be more worried about the security issues that it represented. "...but I'll l try and give you advance notice."

Fable jerked her thumb over her shoulder, and then felt stupid again. "Uhh. There's a meditation room at the end of the hall, if you're into that?" She offered simply. "Just, please don't touch my saber. Or guns. It's a personal thing." And also INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS.

 

[Niysha]

Oh that poor dear.

Niysha turned to follow Fable as she moved, then reached forward to put a hand gently on the girl's leg when she was finally seated again. "Fable. You've been a great hostess. You've given me a warm meal, a hot shower, and a place to stay. If you want, I will run through fire for you." She returned to her seat, leaning back and relaxing a bit. "But I can understand how I can be off-putting. Humans naturally relate to people by their eyes. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Hm? Meditation room sounded great, but why would- Right. A lightsaber. Of freaking course. Her aura was too sharp to be untrained. Honestly, Niysha should've seen it before, but Fable was too scary and food was too good for her to have focused on that too much. Though...considering the color of that aura, she wasn't a Jedi. Best to ask? "Saber, huh? I thought you felt a little too strong for your size. Jedi?"

If the answer was yes, the next question would inevitably be 'so why hasn't she seen that I'm Sith and flayed me like a trout yet?' It was difficult for a Miraluka to conceive of a Force-user whose senses were not perfectly acute. The idea that Fable might be specialized in something entirely antithetical to hearing the eddies of the life force of the galaxy and feeling its fragile threads pull at the souls of those around her was alien to Niysha. So she kept her hand casually in a position that it would be easy to draw her lightsaber from...just in case.
[member="Fable Merrill"]