Dramaphone

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sam Paige"]

"Look, it's simple, Ben." He mumbled as he settled himself down on one of the bunks. This one was located right beneath the vent and suddenly the voice would have pitch-perfect echo quality. Not that Ben was aware of this. If he ever found out, he'd probably go dig a hole for himself and lie down there, wait for the worms to find him.

"Just tell her what you think. How hard can it be?" Karking hard, if his show earlier had anything to say about it. Why would someone like Sam be interested in him anyway?

She was smart.

Intelligent.

The way her mind wrapped itself around all those complicated machinery? Ben would never be able to raise to those levels, no matter how much he'd try to school himself about it.

This was ridiculous.

They barely knew each other. Oh, sure, through the Holo, but was that really a way to get to know someone? Yeah, sure, okay, maybe he had talked more to her than to most people in the last couple of months, but that didn't mean anything. For Force's sake, Sam hadn't even noticed they stopped talking for a week.

Ugh.

"Alright, you gonna go march on over there and then.... then. Improvise. Apologize." Yes. Good! He jumped up and strut right back where he had come from, his boots echoing through the metal.

This was gonna go horrible.

 

[Sam Paige]

Ben's vagaries plus Sam's anxiety equaled nothing good.

She felt the bottom of her stomach drop.

Tell her what you think. Tell her what you think.

He hated it.

Hated the ship, the entire idea behind the ship. He'd been so quiet when she'd been explaining everything, what this did or how that helped with the plan she had. But the whole time, he'd secretly been trying to figure out how to tell her that the plan was ridiculous.

That it was no good.

She closed her eyes, leaning against the bulkhead for a moment.

And he was probably right. He'd been a Jedi. He'd fought against the Sith! Of course he knew how entirely worthless what she was trying to do would be. It wasn't taking the fight to the Sith! It was trying to fill an ocean with a teaspoon. If she'd been paying more attention to him and less babbling on about this mechanical bit or that, she probably would have seen it on his face, plain as day!

He didn't have to apologize to protect her feelings. She wouldn't let him.

She should have known better than to think any of this would work.

[member="Benedict Ortega"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sam Paige"]

Look.

This isn't hard, okay?

Just think about it. The only thing you have to do is tell her what you feel, how you feel. Screw everything else, okay? No, I know. I know, okay. But what else are you going to do? Run away with your tail between your legs and cry about it? You are Benedict fething Ortega, you hear me? You have been fighting Sith three years before it was legal for you to drink.

Why is this suddenly a big deal?

It ain't. Exactly.

So man up, walk through that fething door and tell her exactly the feels, gotcha?

Okay.

Good.

Yes.

You aren't through the door yet. Kark off, I know, okay? "Hey, Sam, I am sor-"

"No. You d-don't have anything to apologize for. I'm the one who should be sorry."

"Wait- What? Why." She ain't looking at ya, fella. That's bad news for you. I am going to punch you in the throat.

"I'm sorry for w-wasting your time. Y-you should have just told me from the beginning, b-but I know I'm. Um. Hard to talk to. Sometimes. When I get excited about something. So. I understand. It's okay."

"Wait what? You... you didn't waste anything? I came here to apologize for the awkwardness and uh... yeah, just that."

 

[Sam Paige]

"Wait, what?"

She turned around then, her face tight and confused. It took her a moment to realize what he was talking about, and when she did her face turned a little red. But the embarrassment of that was nothing compared to the embarrassment of knowing he was probably right about this whole idea.

"I- I mean. That's okay. I thought...."

She gripped the hyrdrospanner that she'd been fiddling with- not working with, she had just been doing something ridiculously repetitive and talking herself into the narrative anxiety offered. She looked away, looking for Pinch, but the mouse droid was no where in sight.

No way it was sticking around for this train wreck.

"I mean. I heard you. Through the pipes? You can tell me what you feel. It's okay? I mean. I know it's a st-stupid idea. You d-don't have to tell me you like it to make me feel b-better. You're a really good friend for doing that. But. I mean. You don't have to. To. You know. Spare my feelings-"

[member="Benedict Ortega"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sam Paige"]

Ben blinked.

After "I mean. I heard you. Through the pipes?-" things became a bit blurry and slow as the realization filtered into his mind. Just for a moment, before he raised his hand and the rest arrived. He didn't often interrupt her, but right now he did. But even his interruption was thinking of her, raising her hand to show her he wanted to say something and giving her the option to either finish or continue.

It was the least he could do for her.

"You... heard. All of. that." Fingers pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. "I wasn't venting about your idea- I love your idea. I was venting about not being able to tell you what I feel for you without making an ass out of myself, Sam."

It was easier to say now.

You just signed your death warrant.

He ignored the voice.

"I... am not good at.. talking." Ben sighed.

 

[Sam Paige]

"Um. What? Yeah. I told you.... about the pipes? Right?"

Sometimes, when a particular narrative gets stuck, it can take a moment to swim back out of it. She'd become so certain that was what he had been talking about, that she just stared at him for a moment, blinking.

She still didn't completely get it.

But, the smile of relief that moved across her face was clear and sunny.

"Oh! You don't- oh geez," she did blush but the smile didn't fade. Because realizing that he didn't hate it meant a lot to her.

It was his awkwardness, rather than the actual words, however, that brought it fading slightly around the edges. Because that meant that he still had someone bothering him. What it was, exactly, wasn't immediately obvious to her.

"Ben, if you don't hate the idea then nothing you can say can be that bad?" She reached out and touched the side of his hand.

"And if you haven't noticed..... I'm not that good at it either."

She paused, biting her lower lip.

"Talking. I mean. You don't have to. Talk about it? If you don't want to."

[member="Benedict Ortega"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sam Paige"]

Pipes? What?

But Ben left that to the side for now, it wasn't important.

It was difficult to get a good beat on Ben. Lots of paradoxes there- on one hand an experienced killer, the other a little schutta when it came to talking about- well, anything. He wasn't good at it, but then Sam touched his hand and he noticed just how close she was. Close enough to notice that little smidgen of oil still in the corner of her glasses, the left one.

Just like Sam to not notice that or not care enough about it.

He squeezed her hand a little bit, trying to work up the courage and just let it sing. "I like you." Ben thought about that. "I like you." Her smile was still the two-variety of casual pleasant encouragement.

"....I am attracted to you."

That got a reaction.

His cheeks started to burn as Ben looked away, grasp around her hand slowly easing for her to slip away.

 

[Sam Paige]

She squeezed his hand slightly, about to reassure him that of course she liked him to-

And then froze.

Blue eyes wide behind the glasses she opened her mouth, then closed it again.

He was-

"Oh."

It hadn't even occurred to her that was what he was so upset about. He was attracted to her? Too quiet, stuttering Sam? Sam who wore dirty cover-alls and usually had engine grease smudged on her face? Her sisters had teased her mercilessly growing up, first for her hair (she took after her father rather than the sleek and severe beauty of her mother and sisters) and freckles, and then later for the fact that she didn't even try to change it. They were right, they were gorgeous and she just.... wasn't that interested in any of it. She'd tried, a couple times, and had felt just more self conscious than she did with her hair in her face and glasses over her eyes.... hiding in the engine room.

And he was handsome. Self assured. Used to be a Jedi. Brave. She admired him a great deal.

But she'd never even considered him like that. In part because she was also so lost in her own head. In part for those reasons, not even remotely in her league.

She didn't let go of his hand.

Her face turning redder by the second, she managed, just barely, to get words out.

"I th-think you are.... really g-great. I admire you. A lot. I just. I haven't. Um. I've never. I don't know what, um, you. Are- do you- I've never had a lot of friends, Ben," she finally blurted out. "And I've neverhadanyonetellmetheylikedmeandIdon'tknowwhattosayordonow."

[member="Benedict Ortega"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sam Paige"]

She didn't let go of his hand.

Ben looked back with mild surprise and confusion when the flood of words washed over them.

Quiet, as they always were when Sam got anxious.
Fast, as if she needed to get ahead of her brain curve and make sure not to overthink it and lock herself up in her mind.
Stuttering and with many pauses, while trying to figure out what exactly to say.

In the end it wasn't a response of affirmation that she liked him too, but neither was it... a denial? It was difficult, messy and Ortega wasn't entirely too sure where he stood at the end of it. Until the last words hit him and Ben offered a little smile.

"Nothing." He responded before stepping a touch closer. If this had been anyone else it might have turned into a passionate kiss, where complications and worries were swept away in the tide of hunger and emotional outbursts. But this wasn't anyone else... this was Ben and Ben wasn't that kind of person. "I told you how I felt, because it was driving me crazy- it doesn't create an obligation for you to reply one way or another." Gently he pulled her into a hug.

"I was your friend first, Sam," He whispered, while temporarily closing the door of emotional turmoil. "And a friend I will stay."

 

[Sam Paige]

She was a little stiff at first when he pulled her in for the hug, but she hugged him back, relaxing slightly. Not completely. Not with that sitting there out in the open now.

It didn't bother her. Didn't upset her. But it did confuse her, and left her not really sure on a lot of things.

His friendship though? Wasn't one of them.

But now that she knew, it wasn't possible to ignore it. To ignore him. Not that she had ignored him before, but it had been different. It was easy to miss things like standing a little too close or a touch on the hand. They had been only friendly gestures before. Now, however, there was a weight there that she didn't know what to do with. Didn't know if she wanted it or not. It was as thought up until that moment, she had only ever really seen part of him.

He knew how he felt.

Now she needed to figure out the same.

She just didn't know where to start.

Maybe with the realization that he was really strong and probably muscular with the way this hug felt.

Her face went crimson and she pulled back, stepping out of the hug. She wrapped her arms around herself, nodding in what looked like a response to the last thing he said.

"Thanks Ben," she said quietly. "You..... you mean a lot to me. I just. I don't. Um. I don't know what that means yet, you know? Maybe.... maybe we can just. See. Okay?"

[member="Benedict Ortega"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sam Paige"]

He didn't want that hug to end.

"Like I said- no obligation, take as long as you need and only revisit the subject if you want to." As she stepped back and Ben inclined his head a fraction in acceptance. In the end this wasn't her problem and it wasn't on her to deal with it.

In truth part of him regretted putting this weight on her shoulders already.

Would it really have been that hard to just bury it deep and never mention it again? Well, it didn't matter now, the rancor was out of the bag and that was that. Now the only thing Ben could do was try and make sure none of this would be too awkward. He shook his head slightly, trying for a smile. "So, what do you do around here to relax? Can't all be engineering, forgetting to eat and sleeping." or ward off thugs that were up to no good... he would have to do something about that.

Fingers brushed through air and made it even more of a mess.

"Unless you have more to show me, of course." This entire mess had been started while doing a tour of the ship, but Ben was pretty sure they had already concluded it, before things turned awkward.

 

[Sam Paige]

She shrugged.

"Um. It kind of *is* all engineering, sleeping and forgetting to eat. Weeeeeeell...... Engineering and forgetting to eat *and* sleep," she added, looking chagrined and a little guilty.

".... When was the last time you slept?"

"Oh. Last night."

Pinch blatted loudly, accusatory.

"For about an hour?"

*****

The ship was dark and quiet. Sam slept, one leg hooked out of the hammock she had strung in the engine room. Red hair hung through the weaving and her mouth was open, occasionally snoring very softly. Pinch was settled beneath it, powered down except for one tiny red light beeping rhythmically in the dark.

[member="Benedict Ortega"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sam Paige"]

It was silent.

Until Pinch beeped inquisitively and the rhythm of the red light shifted.

A shadow moved through the room, but the mouse-droid went to sleep once more and seemed to think that it was not a threat. The figure loomed and then suddenly shook Paige by her shoulder, before she could say anything the figure shhhhh'ed and it was Ben's voice. "Remember those proximity sensors I set-up before we went to bed?" His lips were against her ear now, warm breath washing over sensitive skin as Ben whispered to her and ensured he didn't make too much noise.

Sam nodded once.

"They went off."

Which could mean anything, but almost immediately after that Ben followed it up, "They have been trying to get into the ship already. but-." A loud noise like the shearing of metal by laser echoed through the hallways and made him look over his shoulder.

He cursed.

"Okay, get up, what's the safest place on this ship?"

 

[Sam Paige]

Her eyes flew wide open and she almost went flailing over as the hammock rocked- but Ben was there, keeping it steady, and she calmed down quickly, blue eyes wide in the dark. The tickle of his breath against her ear might have had more of an effect if it weren't for the sound of someone cutting into the outter hull of her kriffing ship!

​Reaching over to the small shelf, she hooked her glasses and pushed them onto her face as she sat up.

"Let me get Pinch," she whispered against his ear before levering herself carefully down from the hammock.

The mouse droid gave her an almost sleepy little blerp, but otherwise stayed quiet when she scooped him up. Reaching out, she tugged on his shirt sleeve- or would have, if he'd been wearing one. Instead her fingertips brushed the inside of his wrist before taking hold and pulling him behind her.

The sound of the plasma cutter on the hull set her teeth on edge. It would take her days to repair the damage they were doing! How dare they! This was her ship!

Up until now, the denizens of the space port had found Sam to be good natured, shy, and more likely to agree to just about anything than try to fight about it. But then, until now, they hadn't threatened her ship.

She led the way to the cockpit. Handing Pinch to Ben, she pushed on the opposite corners of a panel- one of her hidden compartments. This one, however, was special. Sliding down into the hole in the floor, she held her hands out for the droid, then moved out of the way while Ben climbed down. The sound against the hull grew louder, part of the inner wall starting to glow. With a grimace, she pulled the cover down over them.

"Sound proofed, we can talk safely," she said once the seal caught fully, whispering anyway. The space was smaller than the other compartments she had shown him, snug for the two of them no matter which way they turned. Of course, the reason it was smaller was why they were here in this one, instead of one of the others.

In another circumstance, the closeness would have been difficult to ignore. But there were people cutting into her gorram ship! She put her back to him, to fiddle with the machinery that was taking up the lion's share of the compartment.

"I set up contingencies," she murmured quickly. "In case we got boarded by.... I don't know. Sith or something. Um, can you flip the switch behind you? We'll be able to hear what's going on up there, and I can.... I mean.... I will decide. Um. What needs to happen."

[member="Benedict Ortega"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sam Paige"]

This was a side of Sam that he was less familiar with.

Still soft voice murmuring, but there was an edge to it once she heard the laser cutting through her ship. It seemed that if hers were being threatened that another side appeared and started to guide her. Made him curious just how far Sam would go to defend what was hers. It was easily ignored that both of them were barely clothed, until she pulled him into the hidden compartment beside her. It was tight, cramped, no matter how they shifted some parts of their bodies touched and brushed against one another.

Ortega didn't have the gift of being furious to be distracted by all of this.

"Yeah, I can do that." Even isolated in sound he whispered back, mostly because she was whispering and it was infectious in this particular situation. Ben shifted and at a very awkward angle he managed to get to the button on the wall behind him, punching it in. This caused him to push firmer against Sam as support had been necessary from that particular angle. Suddenly the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzhhhhssssss of the lasers sounded much clearer in the compartment.

Why couldn't it be bigger?

This was distracting him... immensely.

Usually this wouldn't be that much of a problem. But what had happened the previous night, together with the close proximity and her curve firm against him? It kept all his discipline as a soldier to focus on the business.

"What kind of contingencies?"

 

[Sam Paige]

Her fingers tapped and tapped, eyes flickering up and down from the keys to the read out on the tiny screen. No proper words or controls, just straight code, but it didn't seem to slow her down.

"Um. Can electrify the floor, all of these compartments are insulated as long as you don't touch the ceiling. Range of power from 'ow hey' to. Well. Up from there. Can vent the atmosphere in the ship from here. Got oxygen. But that wouldn't help much. Was going to install some kind of sedative canisters but I haven't been able to rig it right yet."

Her chin tilted up and down, up and down. Chewing on her lower lip, she paused, cocking her head as the quality of the cutting from above changed.

"They're about to come through," she whispered. And sure enough, something went crashing, metal against metal.

"Remember, don't hurt the girl. She's useful. Just scare her a bit. But the boy? Rough him up if you have to. Don't kill him, but teach him his place."

She looked up when a voice filled their little compartment- even though the sound was coming from the speaker on the other side of Ben, and the man wasn't actually above them.

Her hand hovered over one of the keys for a moment-

"Once Degan's here, well, then we can properly take care of them."

Her finger retracted slightly, looking over her shoulder at Ben.

"More coming," she said, chewing on her lower lip.

[member="Benedict Ortega"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sam Paige"]

Once the thug's voice filtered through the small speaker above his head Ben managed to distract himself.

Army training took over at that point... for now.

It was like he assumed- the situation had changed for the thugs now that he was here. The factors, environment, they were unfamiliar and that unfamiliarity put them on edge for one reason or another. Now they wanted to regain control and the best way was to take him away. Maybe they really would just try to beat him up, but Ortega wasn't just some boy out of school with a good heart. He was a soldier first and foremost, and these thugs didn't scare him.

Realizing that they couldn't break him would probably turn to trying to kill him.

"Then we wait," Ben whispered, hand curling around her shoulder and gently pulling her away from the controls for now. "We take them out all at once and then see what we do with them."

Anything else would put them at risk.

They didn't know how many people Degan had with him, it could be just a handful, could be way more. It was best not to take too many risks in the here and now. "Proud of you though, didn't realize how hard you modified this thing." His lips were next to her ear again, while he tried to look over her shoulder and make sense of the console. It was just a bunch of code, green font on dark, whisping by, but now it was calm and static. Sam wasn't manipulating it for now after all.

 

[Sam Paige]

The problem was that there wasn't anywhere for him to pull her back to- except against him. In tank top and shorts, him just in pants, she was suddenly very, very aware of him and how close they were. She swallowed, standing unnaturally still with her back against his chest and tried to focus on something else.

"Hoped I'd, um.... n-never have to use- use it. Them," she forced out.

The compartment was lit only by the glowing script on the screen, casting a pale green glow over them both. It was good, since that meant he probably couldn't see how red her face was.

The sound of feet above them punctuated just how serious the situation was. She chewed on her lower lip, worrying it with her teeth.

"If the trandoshan is with them- it'll have to b-be high. The amperage, I mean. Their hide's r-resistance is greater."

She didn't really want to think about what that meant. But it didn't take an engineer to understand the implications. The amount of energy it would take to knock a trandoshan unconscious would kill most humans.

[member="Benedict Ortega"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sam Paige"]

All of a sudden her voice turned back to slow stutter and Ben frowned, still trying to make sense of the script.

Until he blinked and realized just how close she was now, pressed entirely against him- then Sam continued to talk. This gave his mind an outlet to ponder about, because he got what she was saying immediately. Not as an engineer, but as someone who had to fight with unorthodox means in the past quite often.

"Hey," He tugged at her gently so she would turn around, so their talk would be less awkward. Sadly that actually didn't resolve the issue and only made it more awkward.

Ben could see her lips now, her eyes looking up at him.

"Sometimes..." He was losing his train of thought here while his eyes ghosted back and forth every once in awhile. "We need to think of our own safety first."

"If we don't, how are we ever going to help all those people." Trying to smile for her, while ignoring the press of her body.

Difficult.

 

[Sam Paige]

There was a certain sound in the back of her mind as he turned her around. Something like an 'eep.'

In the corner, beneath the console, there was a soft whirr that sounded a bit like an irritated sigh, but it was easily lost below Ben's words and her reply.

"N-no, I know," she said with a small frown, shaking her head slightly. "It's why. Um. I put it in. I didn't have to. You know. Set it to go that high? But you never know."

Sam wasn't a particularly paranoid person. In fact, most people would characterize her as the opposite of that in every regard. But when she decided to do something, she did it full out, nothing held back. Once she'd made the decision to do all of this, there hadn't been any real choice but to make sure she considered every eventuality. Anything that she might need to succeed. Now, anything they might need to succeed.

She kept her hands at her sides, fidgeting up and down and then back again because there as no where good to put them. Well. No where not incredibly awkward anyway. Blue eyes flickered down to his chest then immediately back up to his face, cheeks turning a deeper shade of red.

Fortunately, it was dark in here.

"Anyway, they came here to hurt you."

She frowned again.

"And they cut open my ship. Whatever b-benefit of the d-doubt someone might get. Um. They used theirs up, didn't they?"

[member="Benedict Ortega"]