Private Helluva Trip

[Talsin Lota]

Talsin wasn't really sure why every time he went out with Tansu Treicolt he came back with more bruises than he knew to count. Parts of his body hurt that he wasn't even aware of existed until they were screaming out in agony. It was ridiculous really. At the very least his nose hadn't been broken this time around. The sensation of it being set again and again was just too much, he could practically dream the clicking noise when it was put back into place.

No thank you.

He groaned as he settled onto the couch of the Hollow Heart's lounge area.

"If you are getting an ice pack get me one as well." Tal shouted over his shoulder as he heard Tansu retreat into the kitchen area. He could probably use several, but he didn't want to push his luck too much.

It was... nice to be part of something like this. His entire life he had been surrounded by fellow nobles, nobby individuals who whined and dined every day. The drama and gossip of the courts and balls. It was... exhausting and being away from it kind of felt nice. Tal knew it was a betrayal of his family to feel that way. They had lost everything. Their estates, their titles. Only their money remained.

But what worth was money when you lost your heritage?

"You know, I could have taken him alone." Rubbing his brow. "You didn't have to help."

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Finding this Enclave had been so arduous that she almost didn't wanna leave it. Ever. Like a whole gauntlet run just for a sanctuary to learn. It seemed esoterically insane.

Even after month-long harvests, working physically from dawn to dusk, she had never been this exhausted. Sure, it had been exciting, the closest the twins had got to reliving their parent's stories, but it had also been downright scary. There were a few moments where she'd thought them to be her last.

Tansu was still a little shaken from it all when she re-entered the room Talsin lounged in. Not a med-bay, thank the Force, just a small semi-circled lounge area attached to the traveller's quarters, and tossed him an ice pack unceremoniously. Underhanded right at his gut. She had another wrapped in a towel and was nursing it against her temple. Her head shook in his direction and she made a clicking noise of disagreement at the back of her throat.

"Yeah, okay, sure. I'll tell you what, next time there's a thirteen-foot fella with more teeth than you can count, we'll aaaaall make sure it's just you and he dukin' it out. No problemo, cowboy."

Like a sack of potatoes, she collapsed into the opposite end of the curved sofa and kicked her feet up on the unlit dejarik table. With her head tilted up, eyes closed she frowned into the icepack and groaned.

"You really think the sun comes up just to hear you crow, huh?"

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

Oof.

The ice pack hit his gut exactly the way Tansu Treicolt wished for and it blew the rest of the wind out of his lungs. It also had the additional benefit of reigniting several hurts that had been ignored up until now. So Talsin groaned as he snatched up the ice pack and wrapped a towel around it to avoid frostbite.

"Thanks, buddy, that's exactly what I want. Gorgeous rich single man gets eaten by a talking crocodile." Tal murmured absently as he held the pack against his eye.

Definitely was going to be a bruise.

Why was it so hard to hold a conversation with her? It was like just being in a room with her drew the blood from under his nails. That was the saying if he remembered correctly and it was so accurate.

"What. Does that mean?" His other eye opened up to center her in his currently one-eyed vision. "You know, you must be coming up with some of these yourself, because I have never heard anyone talk like that." Which said more about his upbringing than anything else, of course. Empress Teta had outskirts and rural areas. Unlike Coruscant not every inch of its surface was forged in metal and rust. But outside of the country estates Talsin had never really encountered anyone like Tansu.

He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

Good, definitely good.

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

It was a wonder there was any room on this couch for both her and Talsin with the size of his ego. She groaned out a muted and drawn out ohmyfoorrrcee after his final self-descriptor. He didn't even miss a beat or sound embarrassed. He was the most unabashedly arrogant person she had ever met.

"Wow. Those are some adjectives of choice. I dunno who's writing that headline for you, fella. If you get eaten, none of those descriptors stand up." Her arm stuck straight up and her fingers wiggled then trailed through the air. "Unless a bunch of credits just fall out of your pocket. Last remains from the chewed up chauncy."

What a disappointment. Her insult sailed right over his city slicker head. "You're talkin' to the wrong people." Tansu sniffed "It meAans you're bein' cocky."

"Also!" She jut to sit upright and fixed a glare at him, pointing the ice pack in his direction accusingly. "Pick a side, bucko." Now she was gesturing with two parallel palms, chopping through the air. "Without help, you're eaten. But you could have taken him alone? Or is it just my help that's the problem?"

Truth be told, she was glad she got her chit together enough to be useful. That creature had startled her so bad that her initial scream had been downright embarrassing.

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

Tansu Treicolt

Blood. Under. His. Nails.

But Talsin was perfectly poised. You could almost imagine him doing his nails while chatting away with her. Perhaps that was part of why Tal was so infuriating. Nothing seemed to get to him for very long.

Even during the fight of their lives he seemed like he had done it all before. Which was ridiculous considering he himself readily admitted he only recently became a Jedi.

"Come now, I know you love arguing with me but I know my own worth."

Coming from anyone else it would have sounded like a bad infomercial. Believe in yourself and everyone will believe in you.

Except Tal really seemed to believe it.

It was the calmness he spoke with. There was nothing to be proven because his existence was all the proof one needed.

"Cocky? I suppose. But I never understood why a healthy dose of self-confidence should be a bad thing." One eye opened again to study her. "Take yourself. You have lived your whole life on a farm, I am sure you are a champion at milking banthas and cleaning out barns. Are you not allowed to be proud of that fact?"

That must be a backhanded compliment but it was delivered with such earnestness.

"Mm, you are not a problem, Tansy. Even though you seem perpetually fixated on making everything I say into a problem. Thank you for your assistance. It was very kind."

A little flourish of his hand, almost a salute.

Then his eye closed again.

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

"Come now, I know you love arguing with me but I know my own worth."

Gobsmacked, she stared at him. Agitation prickled beneath her skin and heat started to build up her neck and bleed to her cheeks. So many insults manifested in her mind but came out as a thinly levelled “Whatever.”
​

"Cocky? I suppose. But I never understood why a healthy dose of self-confidence should be a bad thing."
"Take yourself. You have lived your whole life on a farm, I am sure you are a champion at milking banthas and cleaning out barns. Are you not allowed to be proud of that fact?"

Once again, she couldn’t believe the words coming out his mouth. Where had he come from? Instead of humility he had audacity — enough to pretend he knew anything about her world, and just made a sweeping generalization about people who kept their own land.

"There's self-confidence and there's too big for your britches." Tansu seethed. She didn't want to agree with him, but she had been raised to give back to the land that gave them food and sustained life.

"Mm, you are not a problem, Tansy.

The final straw of her barely-there patience snapped and she pushed up from the couch and over to him, crouched and poked a finger into his sternum.

​

"Don't call me that." Tansu snapped with no rationale whatsoever other than her strong distaste for how he said Tansy instead of Tansu. From anyone else, it would be an affectionate moniker. From him, it sounded like he was putting her in a childish box to patronize again later. It sounded curdled, not cute.

Without further explanation she turned on her heel and stomped out of the little room. Even if it was more a hearty limp than a swift exit.

In the kitchen she paced, wound and unwound the cloth from the ice pack. Why was she so riled up? It was like her stomach was coiled a half-turn too far and needed to be released.

A farm her whole life? Self-acclaimed gorgeous and rich? Who chose rich as their adjective? He was kind of gorgeous, like outright certified pretty-boy. But he seemed so obsessed with riches, did that mean she was rags? Or anyone other than the TYpe OF pEOPLe he hung out with were lesser than? Even after she'd extended the proverbial olive branch and invited him to hang out with her family?

Whatever it was, needed to be released. She huffed angrily, tossed the ice pack into the sink, and stomped back into the room.

"AND, another thing," she declared with her entrance, all the way to stand in front of him with her arms crossed. "I don't love arguing with you. You just say the stupidest chit constantly. Someone's gotta say somethin' "

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

Talsin wasn't sure why every word coming out of his mouth antagonized her. It just kept... happening and he couldn't stop. Something about her just made him want to pull his hair out and he knew at this point exactly what ticked her off. She'd never believe he wasn't doing it on purpose. It just... came out that way. Every single time that he tried something different or even tried to give a compliment or mimick the way the others behaved... it only seemed to get worse.

And it was annoying to him and that only made him act out more.

He had raised his finger and was about to retort aggressively... but she stomped out of the room. It didn't give him any satisfaction if Tal was honest. It only made him sigh and deflate more. If he was normal, if he was less... him, this would have been the prime opportunity to bond.

Didn't every story like this end back at the hideout with the stalwart friends bonding over their hard-fought victory?

Why couldn't he just-

Tal blinked and looked up as she stomped back and gave it to him AGAIN. It made him both want to laugh and raised his hackles at the same time. "I was trying to give you a compliment!" Tal said defensively. "I don't know what happens on a farm! I assumed you are proud of the stuff you got up there, I certainly would be fucking useless if you dropped me in the rural countryside." And there the noble boy cringed as he rubbed his brow.

Maybe even hearing himself for the first time in real-time.

"Look, I don't fucking know how to talk to you, okay? I am not used to any of this. Back home it's all sniping at each other from hidden corners and sharpening knives to backstab you the moment you turn around. I am not trying to insult you at every corner.... but clearly I keep doing that." Standing up, stumbling a bit because he was still wounded so Tal had to catch himself on the arm of his chair. "I am gonna go, clearly I don't fit in here at all. Sorry I am a pain in the arse."

Tal's turn to walk off. Less raging boulder and more... something else.

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Force he was such a boy. Why did so many of them claim to not know how to talk to girls? It wasn't that mystifying!

"You could try not talking at all." She muttered snidely, but felt an edge of remorse at his puppy dog pity. It wasn't a good look on him. Like his face muscles didn't actually know how to soften introspectively whatsoever.

"But because that seems less likely than a horse with no gallop, ya could just know nobody here is out to getcha." She took a step backward and flopped into the sofa, oozing into it as a silent invitation to come back in the room because she wasn't posturing anymore.

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

And he paused there and looked back over his shoulder.

"I know that." He said defensively, hackles a little raised at the earlier snide remark but then he rubbed his face and sighed. He would have countered it wasn't about girls. Talsin could talk to girls fine. As long as they were noble. He knew what to expect from a noble girl. They wanted either your hand in marriage or your parents' ear for their eldest brother's business idea.

This was something entirely else however.

"But I guess I don't have a good way of showing it." He walked back to the sofa... And plopped down next to her.

"For what it's worth... I am sorry for earlier. I don't really know how to talk to normal people, but... I am gonna try and do better."

Then a pause and a glance over to her with a little teasing smirk.

"If you leave my nose alone. I don't think it can take many more breaks to it."

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

For a reason unknown, Tansu felt a pleasant flutter when Talsin turned back around and chose to sit. Him not stomping off felt like a victory of sorts, and she did nothing to conceal her proud smile at him conceding back to the couch. She tossed an elbow over the top of the sofa and twisted to face him.

"Normal people" She shook her head into her palm and curled her knuckles into her cheek. "Grrreat start."

Palms flashed up to face him.

"Can't make no promises if you keep stickin' it where it don't belong. But for the most part, don't worry pretty boy, we'll do our best."

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

A soft blink.

"That... isn't an insult is it? I just mean that we are the weird ones." He said hurriedly, trying to do his best to keep the momentum of understanding GOING instead of immediately landing on his face again. It had felt awful to leave this place behind. Even if he hadn't been here long and barely knew the people here... it felt better than any gala or ball he had attended. It truly didn't feel like they wanted to stab him in the back.

That's what made him paranoid.

"It isn't normal to constantly have to worry if your best friend is going to end up cutting your heels in front of of everyone just to make a better impression.... right?"

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Tansu smirked.

"S'long as it's clear you're the weird one here."Once that was a known fact, and she didn't feel like she had to raise her hackles about Kyric , Talin Treicolt and Dax , she could relax.

She shook her head and curled her legs up onto the sofa. He was sitting closer now than he'd been before, but even at this distance his nose looked fine. Everything about his face looked fine, except for the cosmetic injuries. They'd heal right up, she reckoned.

"No. That seems terrible and not like anythin' a best friend should be doing. If Lin did somethin' like that to me, I'd be madder than a wet hen."

For a moment she looked thoughtful and didn't say anything.

"You paint an awful picture of your day-to-day. What'd you do for fun?"

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

"Worked on my bike." He murmurs as his hand went to the chess board on the coffee table. Rightening it, the previous folks must have turned it over in their last game, maybe it hadn't gone the way they had been expecting it. "I'd sneak out at night to race out in the alleyways and streets."

Mused softly.

"How about you?"

Starting to put the pieces on the board. Maybe she wouldn't want to play, but he figured giving them both something to do and focus on, would make the conversation itself simpler. Easier. Because they wouldn't have to focus so much on each other. He wasn't even sure if she could play, but he wasn't gonna make any assumptions at this point.

His nose still throbbed whenever looking at her.

Assumptions could hurt.

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

"So alone time." Tansu filled in the blanks with assumptions, but felt a glow of similarity shimmer at the mutual hobby. She kept her eyes on his movements, tracking his intention right up to the point the dejarik board flickered to life.

"Who'dja race?"

Little monsters of all colours, girth and shape marched around in place on their squares. She shimmied to face the board and designate her side separate from his. She liked her queen to be the pink rancor-lookin' think each time she played. Little superstition.

"Not gunna lie, but there's lotsa stuff to do at the homestead. Well, there're lotta ways to fill time with stupid chit and hobbies as much as there's not a lot to do all at the same time."

She poked at one of the little pawns just to see it react.

"Make sense?"

In case it didn't, she compensated.

"Things like bantha tippin, burnin' stuff in bonfires, and yeah, drivin' too. Lin and I tried to enter a podrace once and got grounded for basically ever."

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

"Alone time." he murmurs absently, thinking back to his siblings. Even when he was at home and safe from the constant machinations, he didn't really have peace. His younger siblings all wanted attention, his two sisters constantly yelling in his ear, his younger brother wanting him to teach him this or that. He did it with love... but sometimes you needed to get OUT as well. Be able to just fucking breathe and do something for yourself.

"Oh, street gangs, few rival nobles who think that the most expensive engine and paint job will put them over the line." Smirking a bit at that last part.

He listened quietly as he made the first move, beginning to try and take control of the center of the board.

"Yeah, honestly if you hadn't given me examples, I would be coming up blank. Podracing though..." He smiled. "It's nice, right? Wind in your hair, the speed... feeling free."

There was a heavy tone to free.

Talsin, with all his riches and status, was the farthest from free. Being a noble only sounded nice in the stories. Otherwise you were basically born into a death cult, but instead of sacrificial knives you had handkerchiefs.

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Unlike Talsin, she never sought alone time. She loved being in the midst of it all, surrounded by chaos, attention, babble. Made her feel all warm. If she didn't have Lin by her side constantly, she might have felt like half of her was missing all the time. Consequence of having a twin.

"Rival nobles." Seemed the funniest bit to Tansu, and she explained why. "I'm imaginging the most hoity-toityu versions of you leaning into chromed-out bikes, with such gelled-up hair that nothin' moves. Hard as helmets."

Her blue-grey grimtaash moved first, entering the board with all its spikes and arms out to counter the initial move.

"The best." She agreed. "Though, we had bikes too. Lin and I were building our own. The podracin' stuff was more a one time thing."

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

He laughed at her description.

"Not too far from the truth. Most noble boys think they got shit to prove, so they dress up... and they end up sticking out like a sore thumb." He ran his fingers through his hair in such a casual and elegant gesture. It was ridiculous how pretty a gesture it was.

"It takes skill to dress well, stick out, but look good doing it." And Talsin said it softly, tone a bit far away because his attention was fully on his next move, which would tell Tansu that he wasn't being a pain in the arse or trying to brag.

This was something Tal truly believed.

"Mm, I miss my bike. I brought it with me when we... moved here. Still haven't been able to find a replacement." He smirked as he finally put his second piece into the game, to cover his first one. And his tone had no hint of annoyance or trying to guilt trip him. Just a soft nostalgia for his ruined bike.

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

"Most but.. you're of course not counted in that majority?" She asked, and squinted at his hovering hand. There were four moves that seemed obvious for him to take, but he sure was taking his sweet time deciding which to commit to.

Her eyes flicked up from the board to see what could possibly be making him move like molasses, but he seemed to be fixing his hair and thinking about style. She rolled her eyes. He was so prissy. She'd called him pretty boy and he hadn't even flinched. Maybe he thought she meant it as a compliment. It was less a compliment and more just.. a state of fact at this point. Looking at him had never been a problem, it was just when he opened his mouth that she felt her gears grind.

Those gears whined out at the wistful mention of his cherished ride.

Tansu made a sound of discomfort. Both to the move he made and the reflection of the property she'd been the catalyst of destruction to.

"Did you ever win any of your races with it?" The teen asked, maneuvering one of her green fellows diagonally two spaces to counter the layering steps his holopieces made.

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

"Mm... I am unique, of course." And there his eyes flicked up to meet hers, humor in them. Clearly taking the piss on himself this time around. At least some self-awareness there before he winks and the move after hers followed immediately. He cleared a route for his purple piece, the tower that could sweep two ways but all the way.

"Oh, absolutely." Eyes gleamed there. "I worked on it since I was a little boy. It was my first bike and I upgraded it each year right after my birthday. It was my first win against this little nerf herder that kept bullying me. It was my first win against my best friend." He shifted in discomfort there himself. His former best friend... but that was something Tansu didn't need to know. "I won this illegal street tournament with it once. I didn't realize the winnings was a week's worth supply of Turbo though... that was an awkward conversation."

He ran his hand through his hair again. This time in embarrassment. It still looked cute though.

"I don't think they ever had a winner try to give their prize BACK."

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Purple tower could move latitudinally and had been set up very close to a trajectory that in two moves would put her houjix at risk. She swivelled her legs out from under her and scoot to the edge of the sofa and rest her elbows on her thighs.

Tansu didn't know what Turbo was. She knew the concept of spice and drugs, but there were none allowed on the homestead.

"I'm 'ssumin' Turbo's somethin' illegal?" She asked, and reached out to push a pawn out into attack position. The little creature raised its arms over its head and made a soundless battle cry before stomping diagonally to take one of Talsin's. It made a showy display of wrestling, topping the other player's character, and cheering for itself.

"You'd lose to me." She said matter of factly, and leaned back into the sofa and stretched. Unbothered and confident.

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Talsin Lota
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