It's Time to Play the 'Gam

[Doctor Azure]

Lor very gladly followed Rawnie out of the store, squeezing her hand as he lowered his voice to a whisper for her.​

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"I'm going back there and taking some of that metal if we don't find anybody else. He certainly doesn't seem to have a shortage."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

His suggestion... was exactly what her mother would have done. She gave him a little swat.

"If you do that, you better leave credits behind," she snapped, "I am not marrying a thief."

And she wasn't about to become one either. That was one thing she was very sure of when she set out to explore the Galaxy. She would do legal work, lest she give her clan a bad name. Everything reflected back on them. She had to set a good example. There were so many little ones there that looked up to her...

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor raised an eyebrow at the little swat Rawnie gave him. His answer was accompanied by facetious hand movements.​

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"Don't worry, visahot. I'll leave him something. It'll be like the tooth fairy."​

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He snorted a little as he thought about the idiots he'd had to deal with so far. Rawnie was right about leaving money, though, albeit for a different reason than she probably worried about. Even somebody as irresponsible as that spice-head probably kept a record of how much material went through his shop. An outstanding amount of missing metal would point right to whoever he'd talked to. Neither he or Rawnie needed that kind of trouble.​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She nodded, although a little reluctantly. Good. She was trying so hard to remain honest. She never mentioned to him why she was so strict. Maybe some day she'd go into it.

"Good," she sighed, "Let's try one more shop."

Just one. She was so hungry it was actually making her quite grumpy.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor squeezed Rawnie's hand again, raising a surprised eyebrow as they walked into this last shop... Music was playing on a radio somewhere. Good music. The kind the Chiss sang along to in the workshop when he thought nobody was looking. An old man, of similar age to the sword-wielding guy from the first place, was dozing while a younger man hammered dents out of a plate of metal. The young guy looked at Lor and Rawnie with a little bit of interest.​

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"Oh. Never seen a Chiss or an Echani walk in here before. I don't do wedding rings or handcuffs, by the way. Or chains, blindfolds, or anything of the like."​

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A little taken aback by the guy's reaction to two random aliens walking in holding hands, Lor took a minute to respond.​

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"I'm not here for- Chit, who the hell even uses fetish gear made of beskar?!"​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Rawnie cleared her throat, blushing terribly at the suggestion. Honestly... if he did want handcuffs or a whip, all he had to do was ask. She had a small toybox stashed away under her bed in the cabin...
No. Wait. That was not why they were here! She bit back a comment. Why did people assume so much about them?
She recognized this song. She made herself concentrate on it instead. Helped relieve some of the embarrassment. She sometimes head Lorane sing along to this one, actually....

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Hearing Rawnie clear her throat, Lor shook his head and tried again.​

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"Beskar. I need some armor, and I wanna know where to find beskar."​

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The other man shrugged a little bit annoyingly.​

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"You go smash rocks open until you find some metal, Red-Eyes."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Rawnie was at the end of her patience about now. She straightened up to her full height... the whole 5'3 of it.

"Okay! Let's try something else. How much could we pay you to provide us with some?"

If they couldn't go directly to the source, then she was willing to bet he'd be willing to sell... for a slightly higher cut than what he paid, sure. Still, it was something, and Rawnie was hungry enough to literally eat the next person that ticked her off.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

The guy raised an eyebrow at Rawnie again.​

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"Depends on how much you want. Enough to make armor would be... Seventy thousand. More, if you want something done with it."​

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Now, Lor wasn't exactly cheap, as his lovely fiancee could very easily attest to. But seventy thousand credits seemed steep. Maybe he could lie a little about the amount of money he had.​

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"Um... we're not talking more than forty kilograms of the stuff. Seventy thousand is a couple years worth of savings for a merc."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Seventy thousand!? Rawnie knew beskar was expensive, but that much!? If she had those kind of credits, she could keep her clan fed and clothed for months! How much did she make off of her last job again? Oh. Yeah. Maybe 4,000. Lorane, of course, had significantly more than she had. He didn't have to scour the forest for his next meal growing up.

She sighed, shaking her head. Maybe they could bluff here?

"We should go look elsewhere..."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Another nonchalant shrug from the smith, and a smirk as Lor visibly rolled his eyes.​

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"Could always check a scrapyard. Or, y'know, kill somebody. Either way, you melt whatever's left down and you've basically got material."​

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The Chiss raised an eyebrow, smirking right back.​

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"Or I could find a not-racist, not-stoned, and not-overpriced smith. Do those exist in Keldabe?"​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Rawnie narrowed her eyes at both suggestions. Sure, armor was often melted down and re-used. Her armor was a mish mash of dead relatives armor, after all. But the more you melted down beskar, the weaker it got.

"Well, sir, thank you for being the least helpful person today."

Her voice dripped with venom as she reached for Loranes hand

"Come on," she snapped, "We'd have more luck with the junkie."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

A sudden snort announced the previously ignored old man waking up from his nap in the chair. He squinted at Lor and Rawnie, then put his glasses on and saw them clearly. What was a Chiss doing on Keldabe?​

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"The junkie... What're you buying from that lunatic?"​

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Lor looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow.​

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"Beskar. If he's going to practically give it away while your kid, here, tries to make me pay seventy thousand for a suit's worth... I can deal with a little bit of spice inhalation."​

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"Seventy thousand?"​

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The old man cuffed his nephew across the back of his head.​

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"Idiot. Sell the man his beskar, and pray that you even get a quarter of that money for it."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

There! Progress! Rawnie grinned, removed her helmet and placed her hand over her heart.

"Thank you," she said in mando'a, bowing her head, "You have no idea how frustrating today has been for me."

She straightened up, giving the nephew a look that could freeze fire itself.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

The old man chuckled as he looked between his two customers. Well, either they were married, or they were damn near close. It wasn't just the hand-holding. Something about the way he'd heard the girl talk to the Chiss suggested it.​

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"Well, if I'm right, you kids have had a hell of a shopping trip. Lotsa crazy bastards 'round here."​

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Lor nodded, sighing with relief.​

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"Yes. First one was some xenophobe with a sword... And then the junkie... Ew."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She squeezed his hand. Her face had gone pale again. She felt terrible. Thank the stars they were almost done with this shopping trip from hell. What ever he wanted to make had better be spectacular!

"The one with the sword was the worst," she added shakily, "Just about killed him after what he said to us..."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor squeezed back, and from the sound of her voice, it seemed like she was suddenly getting pretty tired. That made sense, with all the nausea and hunger and everything. He let go of her hand and slipped the arm around her back, giving her a little bit of support in case she was feeling dizzy, and then grabbed her hand again.​

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"Yeah... He gave her a hard time because I was around. If it'd just been me, he probably would've gone all ax-murderer."​

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The old man laughed again, giving the blonde girl a slight look of concern.​

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"Sit down, kid. You look nauseous."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Well, she wasn't one to ignore the offer of a place to sit. She reluctantly let go of Loranes hand and took the seat offered with another nod of thanks to the old man.

"I'm alright," she said, waving off any concern, "I'm just tired. It's been a long day."

-And I haven't eaten much either.

She smiled encouragingly at her fiance. 'Go on', she mouthed to him, nodding to the old man. This was little adventure. She was just along for the ride.

[member="Doctor Azure"]