Cards of Aurum

[Jsc]

Aurum


Karen Roberts sat in the Hanger Bay playing cards. To her left was Tom. The skinny old man fiddling with his glasses. To her left was Ossa. A brown Wookiee with feathers in her hair. The three of them were playing Rojac So. A game about trying to be the first person to place all fifty of your cards out on the table, in order. There was a great deal of pushing and shoving in this game. Players competing at great speed to be the first to slap their cards down on the table. As such, they had destroyed one wooden coffee table already. Ossa having been a bit stronger than Tom or Karen anticipated. Anyway. Now they were playing on a titanium s-foil from one of the Starfighters. (Much stronger).

"Ha!" Tom declared as he slapped down three cards at once. "I've got you now!"

"Rawr rawr rawr!" Ossa smiled as she quickly capped Tom's three cards with four of her own. Ouch. Clearly, she knew how to play this game. Haha.

Tom frowned and went back to shuffling his deck for new combos. Karen chuckled and briefly glanced outside. It was still raining. The loud pitter-patter of rain drops could be heard echoing all throughout the large hanger bay. The rain slapping against the thin metal roof, nearer the door. Bleh. It made the whole day humid and everything in the bay was moist to the touch. Gross. No wonder everybody was staying indoors today. Down right swampy out there.

The rain continued and the three friends played cards well into the afternoon. Surrounded by empty ships, Starfighters, and few dusty speeder bikes. Mm. Perhaps they'd consider going out and getting some food soon. Who knows?

___

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

While, for the most part, this region of Aurum was known for its warm - if humid - climate, there were days when all it did was rain.

It did not surprise its inhabitants, even those who had only more recently settled down on-world, given that it was a tropical planet filled with jungles, but it was still somewhat of an inconvenience. After all, it wasn't your average rainfall; frightfully heavy, if not for the City's infrastructure there might have been concerns of flooding.

Asha had been out collecting supplies for the next stage of her project, deep within the outlying jungle, when it started. Even there, beneath the shelter of the canopy, she found herself swiftly soaked and met with the oppressive heat which accompanied it, it was a horrible amalgamation which left her skin feeling particularly gross.

What she wouldn't give to jump into the nearest refresher.

With a series of herbs and plants squirreled away in the small satchel at her side, a practice she had taken to following her run in with Eden, and numerous sturdy twigs strapped to her back which had been intended as firewood yet now was much too wet to suit that purpose, she had squelched her way back to the City.

Internally she was worrying over the fate of her hut. While it had seen a little rainfall during construction it had been nothing compared to this. She would find out by tomorrow whether her plans to keep it on the higher ground would pay off, she could only hope and pray that it would not be in ruins. Months of work down the drain.

Down by her feet Azrael let loose a little squeak. Now that they were getting closer to the City the gaps in the treetops overhead were becoming much larger and the poor kitten was absolutely drenched. Not lacking compassion the young Hex leaned down and scooped him up, settling him within the folds of her jacket. It wasn't much better there, but at least he had her body heat to keep somewhat warm.

"I know, my love," she coo'd at him, "We'll be inside soon enough..."

And sure enough the white spires of Azar City loomed just beyond the next rise.

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

Two speeder bikes sat outside a lunch cafe on the outskirts of Azar City. Inside sat a Wookiee, a thin man, and blue-haired woman from Denon. They were eating noodles and passing the time talking about a recent sporting event out of Fondor. Something about droids, hockey, and ion skates? It was, a rather weird conversation from a rather weird troupe. But? They did look like they were having fun with it anyways. Heh.

Karen wrapped her long hair up into a ponytail. Distressed at what the humidity was doing to her long curls. Meanwhile, Ossa was polishing off her third large bowl of noodles and promptly ordering another. Good grief, Karen thought. And just when she had agree to pay. Oh bother. At least Tom was having fun. Playing with his chopsticks like a child and making laser noises about the last Ice Ball match. I suppose it wasn't the most immature thing a man in his late 60's could be doing.

"Tom, please. You're supposed to eat with those."

"What? Oh, right. But look... Look, look, look. Then Ringo slides up to Brisko and slaps the ball right out of his hands! Kapow! Just like that. Then he skates over to the net and throws it in. Kapow! See! See! ...Oh man, Blue. You should have seen it. Glorious."

"Rawr rawr rawr." Ossa shrugged.

"Yeah. I'm with Ossa on this one Tom. Wookiee Ball is much more exotic than Droid Zap."

"WHAT!?"

Ossa and Karen gave each other a big high five. Leaving Tom to grumble with his chopsticks about furballs or something. Ha. Yep. Just another perfect lunch with friends. Nice.

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

Home.

That wasn't a feeling she had much experience with. Living her life constantly on the move, until she came to Aurum alongside Jyn and the others Asha had known only the uncertainty of space, visiting worlds for short bursts of time before heading off on the next big adventure. Compared to that the quiet life here was alien - but not unwanted.

As she ventured through Azar City she felt the rain finally begin to lessen. More often than not it would resume for several days before the storm would completely pass, these spurts were rare but they liked to make a scene whenever the rainy season kicked in.

Since its reclamation the population had steadily grown, outlanders approaching from far and wide to break ground here. There was a whole legion sent from Bakura who now called the world their home, and while the men and women belonging to it were posted at the various Je'daii Temples their families had bolstered the streets of Azar significantly. Life had returned to this once devastated planet.

The fragrant scent of food drew her toward one of the cafes which had sprung up, spices lingered on the air which reminded her of [member='Sargon Vynea'] - no doubt due to the length of time he had resided on Bakura before its oppressive takeover - and her stomach rumbled in appreciation.

Stepping inside, a wave of heat hit her. Aurum was always humid, even during rainstorms her skin felt perpetually sticky, yet somehow - somehow - the owner of this establishment had formed a drier atmosphere within the cafe itself. So much so that she felt herself drying off rather swiftly, and Azrael squirmed to be placed back down. She didn't, of course, it would be rude to allow the creature to roam freely where others were eating.

As she found herself a seat she overheard a rather boisterous conversation about Droid Zap which was nearing its end. Truth be told Asha had no idea what this 'Droid Zap' was, and she figured it would be rude to admit that she had been eavesdropping, so instead she turned her gaze over the menu and pondered for a moment.

But she couldn't quite help herself, and moments later she looked back to the table a few feet from her own... Made up of a rather odd group of noodle-eating individuals. They had to be offworlders, Aurum hadn't seen many of their kinds before.

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

As [member="Asha Hex"] sat down, Tom was once again back to squabbling about sports while illustrating his rambling via chopsticks. Karen and Ossa just sighed at his complete lack of tack when it came to expressing his opinion. The old man just didn't care who, or what, he offended these days. Sheesh.

Eventually Ossa just leaned over and snatched the chopsticks out of his hands. Smiling as she held them aloft over her three empty bowls of noodles. Roaring merrily at her new prize possession.

"Hey!" Tom squirmed.

"Rawr rawr" Ossa beamed.

Causing Tom to frown and finally lunge forward to grab the chopsticks. Half way across the table.

"Hey!" Karen balked.

"Rawr rawr!" Ossa smiled and threw the chopsticks aloft in the air.

"Darn you furball!" Tom fell flat on his face as he jumped for them.

...

The chopsticks flew through the air as spritely as a feather. Then landed squarely, on Asha's poor head. ...Oops.