Natural Twenty (Nima)

[Fabula Caromed]

New Anchorhead, Tatooine, Docking Bay 93
Zyche watched a full crew of cargo droids running around her Beshaba, pulling out crate after crate of stuff that she had never bothered to inquire about and delivering it into the waiting hands of a man she had never bothered to talk to. She didn't have any business with him, after all, but with his lieutenant, a surprisingly well-spoken Nikto with a datapad set in its clipboard program and the authority to give her her paycheck. She really needed that check, too, because as it was, the Beshaba was falling to pieces. She'd almost lost her cauterizer on the way down to Tatooine...

Naturally, the girl was practically ecstatic when she finally heard him clear his voice and speak in the most curious Coruscanti accent ever. "Surprisingly, the whole shipment is undamaged. Dare I ask if you even know what you were carrying?"

Shrugging, Zyche shook her head and folded her wings into a cloak around her shoulders. "Not my business, bucko. People who ask questions tend to end up dead. I just want my money and I'll be outta your hair." He nodded in understanding and hit a few keys on his pad, and a few seconds later there was a beep coming from Zyche's credit chit. She flashed him a fang-y smile. "There we go. Pleasure doing business with you."

The Nikto man took a stiff bow, then stood back up to straighten out his expensive suit. "Quite. Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to get these out of here before the Hutts show up and extract their own 'import tax.'"

Zyche only shuddered in response, giving a quick frown. "Yeesh. Yeah, that sounds like more paperwork than it's worth." She turned back over her shoulder and gave a quick click of her own datapad towards her ship, rewarded with a little beeping noise as her cargo ramp started to close. "Welp, if you ever need something else lugged halfway across the galaxy and delivered to creatures of questionable ethics, you know my number, big man." The Nikto gave a rather stuffy sniff and walked off with the rest of his little party.

And then, Zyche was alone. She had her money, and it was high time to get a few replacements for the aging and crumbling piece of arse she called a "ship."
@[member="Nima Ven"]

 

[Nima Ven]

Nima was so involved in her own little world. Tatooine was an amazingly interesting place for someone who had only ever seen four walls for the most of her life. She had wondered down to the port, her head turning to inspect the many large ships parked and waiting for their owners.

*SMACK*

Nima gasped a little, reeling backward from whoever she had bumped into. Her chest pained a little, who ever or whatever she had bumped into had winded her slightly. Nima placed a hand on her chest, inhaling a little as she craned her neck to finally look at the strangers face. "I'm sorry-..." She trailed off slightly as she stepped back. Nima wasn't in the mood for trouble, not on her own...

@[member="Zyche Prynn"]

 

[Fabula Caromed]

It took way too much effort for Zyche not to just spread her wings and fly off the moment she was done in the docking bay. She'd been cooped up in her ship for days, and she needed a chance to stretch her wings. Still, people tended to freak out when a horned demon-looking thing took off from the ground right next to them and started swooping and banking and diving like it was hunting for their hopes and dreams. Instead, Zyche needed to keep a slightly lower profile, so she decided to walk out of the bay instead.

And that was her first mistake. In the air, she might have been able to avoid the bright red girl who wasn't watching where she was going, but on the ground, well...

*SMACK*

Stumbling back, Zyche braced herself against the faux-stone hallway of the docking bay, her claws almost shearing into the "93" sign beside it. Fortunately, she managed to brace herself before she fell over. Unfortunately, she couldn't maneuver fast enough not to get hammered by a buck-thirty of Twi'lek. When she got her footing again, the Vanr flashed that same smile she'd given earlier. All fang, no humor. "Nah, s'alright. I can totally get how you missed the huge purple space demon with wings and horns. Everyone makes that mistake."
@[member="Nima Ven"]

 

[Nima Ven]

Nima grumbled a little under her breath, rubbing her chest gently. "I said sorry.." She finally took a glance at the woman in front of her, inspecting her body fully. A gargoyle-esque appearance. Nima couldn't hide the interest on her face as she looked her up and down. She didn't like her tone at all, but Nima tossed it aside. "I wasn't looking were I was going. Can't blame a girl..."

@[member="Zyche Prynn"]

 

[Fabula Caromed]

Zyche might have been distracted from her task at hand by something a little more interesting, but that left her attention rather focused on what had her immediate attention. That "what" was the Twi'lek, and that Twi'lek appeared to be checking her out. Or maybe not. Maybe she was just doing what everyone did the first time they saw a Kaas devil: balking and trying to figure out exactly what she was looking at. Still, it would make her easier to tease.

After a moment, the girl raised her hairless eyebrow. "Huh. See something you like, Red?" She hesitated, then smirked and spread her wings out properly, leaving the "cloak" look behind to spread out to her full majesty. "How about now?" As she finished, she gave her tail a quick lash against the wall behind her. Sure, it was showboating, but there weren't a lot of her kind left in the galaxy. It was in her right to brag, and brag she would.

Hopefully she wouldn't be seen as hostile. She doubted Tatooine port security would be the kind of thing that could stop a crazed woman with a blaster.
@[member="Nima Ven"]

 

[Nima Ven]

Nima's mouth fell open in amazement. "Yes. I do as a matter of fact..." Her tone was tinted with awe as she took a daring step closer. Her wing span was more then impressive and Nima scanned over them in full length. She grinned a little bit, leaning forward as if inspecting every detail of her body. "If you don't mind, what species are you?" Nima pulled her head back a little and straightened up. She was the same height but still felt a little overpowered. The horns definitely didn't help.

@[member="Zyche Prynn"]

 

[Fabula Caromed]

With a quick laugh, Zyche folded her wings back over her shoulders and joined them by the dewclaws in front of her neck as a "clasp." The cloak reflex made it much easier to be indoors and move around, though it was a bit uncomfortable to do for too long. She crossed her arms under her "cloak" and cocked her head to one side, trying her best to look amused instead of insulted. So far, this one seemed harmless. She didn't want to push it, just in case.

"That's a bit of a rude thing to ask, don'tcha think? I mean, why are you red, Red?" Shrugging, she leaned back against the sign for her ship's docking bay and let her head rest against the wall. "Not surprised, though. If you haven't been to Dromund Kaas, you'd probably never see anything like me." And now no one was going to Kaas. No big loss. The planet was a hellhole. "We're called Vanr. Not a lot of us left in the galaxy. Guess it sucks to be a species with a negative population growth, but I could care less." Bringing out one claw from under her wings, she tapped one of her horns. "Alternatively, 'Kaas devil.' But whenever I hear that, I think of some kinda Huttball team or something."

Her innocence was kinda cute. Optimistic, curious souls on Tatooine were probably as rare as devils. Zyche had to admit it was a helluva welcoming committee, and much better than she'd hoped for.
@[member="Nima Ven"]

 

[Nima Ven]

Nima crinkled her nose a little, setting wrinkles in between her brows. "I don't see why it would be rude. I'm red because that's my skin colour, a mutation." She stepped back a little, creating a larger distance between the two. Nima didn't want to be offensive, after all she was just curious. She had never seen something as amazing as the woman who stood before her. It captivated her interest to the full. "Vanr..." She repeated softly as she listened to the rest of her speech. Nima couldn't help but let out a light laugh at her last sentence.

"Please excuse me, I didn't mean to offend or upset you. I'm Nima Ven." She wasn't sure if she should offer her her hand to shake or whether she should just remain the way she was, her arms by her sides.

@[member="Zyche Prynn"]

 

[Fabula Caromed]

Well there we go! Actual civilized communication! Zyche stepped forward and took the Twi'lek woman's hand in her own, giving just a little bit of a squeeze with her claws, just for dramatic effect. "Zyche Prynn, space drifter, cargo transport. Takes more than a little curiosity to offend me, sugartails. People with more practice at it than you have tried and failed."

She looked around for a long moment, then reached up to fluff her hair out and stepped past Nima without a second thought. After a few feet, she looked back over her shoulder to respond. "Not keen on having a conversation in the middle of a docking bay. I've got some shopping to do. Talk if you want, but I'm going this way." And then towards the doors! Still, she'd managed to get some hot little local piece of eye candy enticed by her exotic presence, so...why not keep it up? She let her tail do a little wave as she walked away, just to add to the imagery.

And then out into the Tatooine sun. Ugh. Why'd she have to go outside at noon? Only thing worse would be if there was a sandstorm on approach. Then again, knowing her luck, there soon would be. She needed to go arrange for whatever parts and supplies she could get now, before anything horrible happened. Easier to fix than it was to replace.
@[member="Nima Ven"]

 

[Nima Ven]

"Zyche." Nima repeated again. As she walked past Nima craned her head to follow her, staying in the same spot. She shuffled her weight a little between one foot and the other before sprinting off after her. Nima found it hard not to bump into her again, skidding an inch away from her back. She danced around to her side, taking large strides to keep up with her. "What are you getting?" Every so often Nima would turn her head to look at Zyche again. She was so fascinated by her, fascination and something else...

@[member="Zyche Prynn"]

 

[Fabula Caromed]

Ah, there was her little cheerleader. Zyche kept her pace, her feet digging into the sand at angles that were far from comfortable. One of the problems with not wearing shoes was that whatever you stepped in went straight to your nerve endings. She didn't slow her pace any more than she needed to, though, and made a beeline to the thing that looked closest to a market. "Parts. That big ol' junker of mine in the dock is about to fall apart. It's practically rising up in open revolt." So was her stomach. She'd been on nutrient paste for two weeks, and that was nowhere near enough for a full belly.

Okay Zyche, you've got someone on your hook. Now reel her in. "So, you a local girl? I doubt many people would willingly visit Tatooine witout good reason." Then again, she was a Twi'lek. Hadn't Zyche read something about their homeworld being pretty similar to this dump? All sand and suns. Maybe she was here on vacation or something.

The streets were mostly sand and wind, which was problematic for a body that had evolved to exist and hunt a jungle hell. It was a little strange for Zyche to see such a scarcely-populated "commercial center" like New Anchorhead was supposed to be. The crowds got thicker as they neared the market, but even then, it seemed like a ghost town compared to most of the big trading posts she'd been to. Even those Silk Industries rest stops were busier, and they weren't even proper cities.
@[member="Nima Ven"]

 

[Nima Ven]

Nima grinned a little, keeping up with her large strides. "You have your own ship?" Her voice squeaked a little as she expressed her excitement. Nima glanced toward the market they were heading too. Deciding it was now best to keep her eyes ahead, lest she bump into anyone again. Nima shrugged her shoulders at her question. "No, I'm not local." For now that was all she was willing to say. As they entered the crowds of people Nima focused her attention fully on weaving in and out stationary bodies. "What about you? Where are you from?" It wasn't a secret that Nima liked the heat, though she wasn't particularly impressed with the sand. It got into her eyes and made them water.

@[member="Zyche Prynn"]

 

[Fabula Caromed]

"Well, it's not my ship," Zyche started out, shrugging again while she scanned the buildings around her for a junk shop. "It was my parents'. But they're not gonna have any more use for it now, so I'm not exactly heartbroken for using it to keep the money flowing." At least a little bit of money. Not enough to be happy, but enough to keep eating, and occasionally keep the ship flying.

The Twi'lek brushed off Zyche's own question like it was nothing. Could have been something as innocent as being a space-case ditz who didn't think about answers so much as questions, and her curiosity was pretty cute, but Zyche didn't get to where she was by trusting people who asked more questions than they answered. "Already told you, sugartails." Guess it might be a little hard to hear when you don't have ears. "My folks were from Dromund Kaas. Place is a graveyard now, which suits them just fine. I was born there, but I grew up in the spacelanes."

There we go! A simple shop with what had to be the most modest advertising budget ever. The only thing letting Zyche know that it was a junk shop was the small sign bolted over the door that read (in Huttese and nothing else) "Junk." Chances were this would be cheap enough to fit her rather discerning budget at the moment. As she stepped in, she turned back to look at Nima. "You know, Nana, you're asking me a whole lot about me. It's cute, but it's no fair. S'your turn to start talking about you. If we're gonna keep this up, needs to be two-way."
@[member="Nima Ven"]

 

[Nima Ven]

Nima listened as best she could, but the crowds seemed to blank a few of her words out. She stepped closer, this time weaving her way in and out of the bodies less than an inch away from Zyche. "I've never been to Dromund Kaas before. I've not really been to many places." Nima tailed Zyche like she was a body guard, sticking close in the packed market place. She felt a little vulnerable and in all honesty most people were avoiding Zyche. It was perfect.

"I don't know where I'm from. I don't know my parents. The only thing I know is how to please." Nima paused for a moment as they entered the shop, taking in her first glance of a junk shop on Tatooine. As always it captivated her attention and she trailed off as she saw something of interest. "I was a slave for most of my life to various Masters. Moving from place to place..." The entire conversation had brought a dull tone to Nima's voice. If you were listening closely she almost seemed to catch on her words. But the anger and the pain fuelled her power. She was more then used to twisting her emotions into something physical. But this time was different.

@[member="Zyche Prynn"]

 

[Fabula Caromed]

'There, finally got the conversation moving in a direction away from me.' Zyche smirked as she turned back to the smell of metal and oil that was the machine shop she'd walked into. She'd worry about responding when she was done dealing with business. After all, Nima seemed to have exactly nothing pressing in her life to follow her around all day like an adorable red doggie.

A few moments after she walked in, a Besalisk attendant moseyed his way to the front counter. "Ah, and what would two pretty young ladies like yourselves want with a dump like this?" Ah, there he was. An interesting introduction he'd decided on for himself.

Zyche pulled out her datapad and tapped the screen a few times with one of her claws. "Got a bunch of busted gear back on my ship. Y-series, few years old." Plodding up to the counter and trailing sand from her feet the whole way, she dropped her datapad on the counter and spun it around to the four-armed alien properly read. "Been straining my cauterizer for a while now. Could use some cables for the engine, too. GC-12, maybe a two-millimeter gap."

The junk salesman took a look at the list, then back up at Zyche. "Lady, there's a lot more than just 'some cables' on this list. How were you planning on finding all of this in a junkyard? Some of this stuff hasn't even been out for-"

She held up one claw and shook her head. "Look, I don't care for the runaround. If you've got it, I'll buy it. If you don't, I'll go somewhere else." Crossing her arms in front of her, the Vanr gave him a meaningful stare. "Or are the cannibalized innards of that ARC-50 I saw sticking up from behind the building not for sale? Because I'm pretty sure that thing would have some GC-12's I could rip out." The man just gave her a glare, then turned to plod off back into the back of the shop. Zyche smirked and turned back to Nima again. "So. Freed girl, huh? Sounds rough. How'd you get out?"
@[member="Nima Ven"]

 

[Nima Ven]

Nima wasn't sure what to do while the Vanr was discussing her business. She moved around the shop, taking her time to inspect all the bits and bobs that littered the shelves and floor. She was involved in looking at an old door from a carrier vessel when she heard the question. Nima didn't look up, but she did respond. "Someone saved me. Isley Verd." Though she doubted Zyche knew who he was she still mentioned his name. After all she was more then grateful for his continued aid and desire to do well by her.

Nima slowly began to move around the shop, her eyes still wondering around the junk shop. "It was rough..." She added as she stopped at the counter where Zyche stood. "I'm sure we can talk more about it in a more suitable setting. Perhaps a drink?" Nima smiled, for once looking directly in her eyes. For some reason the Vanr didn't scare her as much as she assumed she would in the beginning. Nima wanted to know more and hear more.

@[member="Zyche Prynn"]

 

[Fabula Caromed]

Zyche opened her mouth to say something, but at that exact moment there was a crash and a string if profanity from the back of the shop. Rolling her eyes, the young devil gave a smirk back to Nima. "Well, chances are this song-and-dance can continue without me. I'll drop by later and see if he doesn't have something for me, but until then I don't see why I can't enjoy some of the pleasures of shore leave."

Well now. That was direct. "Take me to your liter. As in, liters of booze," she started, moving her claw up to pat the Twi'lek's shoulder. "I've kinda never been on Tatooine before, so I don't exactly know where the best places are around here to get blitzed and do things I'll regret in the morning." Charming to the last, apparently. Zyche lashed her purple tail against the counter and turned her head back to the back. "I'll be back later, ya klutz! Don't do anything untoward with my datapad. It cost me at least a solid five credits to have that self-destruct chip installed."

She did not have a self-destruct chip in her datapad.
@[member="Nima Ven"]

 

[Nima Ven]

Nima almost jumped out of her skin with the crash and cursing. She was still getting used to loud noises without them being followed by a bruise or a broken arm. She hoped she wouldn't get laughed at for her timid behaviour, especially since it followed such a bold move. She offered a shaky smile as she regained her wits, straightening her spine a little. "I've never been to Tatooine either, but we can find somewhere surely." Nima smiled and raised a hand to the claw on her shoulder. She laced her own claw-esque fingers through hers and tugged lightly.

"Let's go.. She paused for a moment, to allow Zyche to threaten the owner. Nima couldn't help but plaster a cheeky grin on her face as she pulled the Vanr from the shop. She was excited, her first drink with someone. It would be a night to remember. She expressed her excitement with a series of high pitched squeaks as she stepped out into the crowd. She felt strange, her fingers laced into Zyche's. Tugging her around certainly warranted some funny looks. After all, Nima still had the physique of a slave. Her ribs and collar bone were, for the moment, unhealthily prominent.

After a good few minutes of walking around aimlessly, Nima finally turned, giving her arm a sharp tug as she entered a door. The bar she stepped into was small and dingy and filled with unlikely company, but it was perfect. She released Zyche's hand, turning around and spreading her arms. "So, what do you want to drink? They're on me!" Nima wanted to impress her of course, she was hungry for conversation. Especially with @[member="Zyche Prynn"].

 

[Fabula Caromed]

Okay, that was adorable. All Zyche had expected was to get led off to a bar somewhere, treated to enough drinks that she'd pass out, and have someone swipe her credit chit. Maybe she'd wake up in a back alley clinic somewhere minus one kidney and most of her liver. Instead, she got a cute little gesture from a girl who was very probably the most naive creature Zyche had ever met. Holding hands? OhdearForce that was endearing.

She'd almost forgotten how to speak by the time Nima, predictably, led her off to a bar somewhere and offered to treat her to drinks. Ah well. Probably a honey trap, but Zyche didn't care. It'd been weeks since she'd had any kind of meaningful contact, and even longer since anyone had offered to buy her a drink. Normally she was being chased out of cantinas, not treated as an attractive young woman with low standards.

The Vanr girl managed to come up with a proper response, too. That was damn decent of her. "If I'm drinking it off of you, there aren't a lot of things I wouldn't drink," she started with a toothy little smirk, then walked past Nima and replied in a lower tone. "But if you're buying, I'll take a Velusia Sunrise. Provided they mix 'em here." Without further ado, she found herself a booth to sit at, rather than attempting to find a place by the bar. Wings and tails tended to draw stares when placed at the center of the room.
@[member="Nima Ven"]

 

[Nima Ven]

Nima offered her a rather sweet smile as she nodded her head. "You can have whatever you like, but a Velusia Sunrise it is!" Nima's emotion was clear in her tone of voice and her body language. She almost walked with a skip in her step. She felt like she had taken a large step today. Talking to strangers wasn't exactly her forte and she wasn't sure if it should be. But regardless, she had done something that surpassed her own ambitions today. Nima walked over to the bar, tapping her fingers lightly onto the stained wood.

After a few moments Nima's fingers were curled around the two drinks, heading back to the booth Zyche chose. Nima nodded her head, sliding the drinks onto the table as she lowered herself into a seat. "Nice choice.." Nima didn't really like being the centre of attention either. So far she had to say that the Vanr was pulling all the right strings. They were almost alike.

"So what made you accept a drink from a random twi'lek you've only just met?" Ever the curious mind, Nima did have a lot of questions. She expected them all to be answered over the course of the night. She had already learned that it goes two ways though. She guessed Zyche was a fan of a fair conversation.

@[member="Zyche Prynn"]