Private Not Again!

[Holden Tark]

LOCATION: Sanbra
WEARING: xxx
TAG: Asori Soto

Another day, another credit. Holden found himself tracking down another relic which belonged in a Museum somewhere. The pay was good when he could get it. It was certainly better than the salvage jobs he took when the bigger pay wasn't there. How much his life had changed. At times he wondered what Eryn was up to. The two would cross paths on occasion, though her idea of work often led the former Security Officer toward the more criminal element of the spectrum. Twice he had been shot, and once beaten near to death because of the dark haired vixen that liked to interrupt his life on occasion. Hopefully that was not going to happen on this job. If Holden was honest, he needed one job to go well. Like the old days when Runi Verin ran salvage runs with him... those had been lucrative days.​

​

This was supposed to be a fuel stop. One that was getting delayed due to a random customs search.​

​

"I already told you... I don't have any cargo. There was a reason I said I had nothing to declare when I was asked upon entry."​

​

Holden rolled his eyes. Of course they would send droids that were programmed to just run the search. It was rarely any personal interaction anymore, and Holden was frustrated. Time was important on this job, and any job like he was on. Most relics didn't just sit still, not with all the treasure seekers that existed in the galaxy. Everything was first come, first serve. At least Holden held an advantage to the fact he researched each job as best as he could. He liked having a plan. Things rarely ever went according to the plan, but he liked it nonetheless. At least he was adaptable.​

​

"Every thing seems to be in order, sir, have a nice day."​

​

Another roll of his eyes was offered to the droid and it handed Holden a pass telling he was all clear to proceed.​

​

"Like I said, nothing to declare. Now, how fast can y'all be out of here so I can get off this hunk of rock?"​

​

The Corellian shooed the droids off his ship and started up the engines. He was in such a hurry that Holden skipped over the pre-flight inspection. After all the droids literally just did that. Punching the lever for the boarding ramp, Holden brought it to a close. Even though he was alone, the man did what he always did ever since Eryn hid in some of his cargo.​

​

"This is your captain speaking. We're about toake off... so if you decided to stowaway while I was in a hurry or not looking... buckle up. It's gonna be a bumpy flight."​

 

[Asori Soto]

---
Location: Sanbra
Wearing: xxx
Tag: Holden Tark
---

Kark.

Karkkarkkark!

Asori knelt again as Holden's voice came over his freighter's intercom, almost as soon as she had stood. Her knee drove hard into the hull below. All she could do but yelp out was bite her tongue. A metallic hint tinged her mouth. She had always been awkward in the field - actually borderline useless - but UoS's professors easily overlooked as much to focus on her theoretic genius. Especially once she became a masters' student, because that was what undergrads were for. And once a doctorate candidate, grads could serve the same purpose.

Captain Tark must have been in an intent hurry or trying not to look if he hadn't seen the wispy xenogeologist sneak onto his craft. Well, oh well; he could always just pluck her off the deck and blow her like a dandelion head straight out of the airlock...

As various stabilizers disengaged or engaged as needed, Asori's stomach sloshed. She slid one knee over the floor, giving herself a wider but unergonomic kneeling foundation. Absolute elevation rose - Asori could feel momentum tugging down at her spine - though relatively it didn't change in the cargo hold. Takeoff procedures were about halfway through, if she had to guess.

Bumpy ride, indeed.

She braced herself on the crates stacked in front of her, hooking her fingers in the netting securing them in situ. The thick threads were taut and steadfast, but then they weren't.

Holden would be able to hear a crash from the cockpit over the whir of the engines.

 

[Holden Tark]

LOCATION: Outer Space
WEARING: xxx
TAG: Asori Soto

Everything seemed to be going well. The ship took off, a bit bumpy as usual, but nothing replacing the dampeners couldn't fix... when Tark had the credits to fix them. The ship was getting old, but the old lady had gotten him through some interesting times. He knew he needed to part with her, but Holden just wasn't ready to. It wasn't long before he had his course set, and jumped the ship into lightspeed. The engine hiccupped a bit before making the jump, again nothing credits couldn't fix. Once the auto-pilot was on Holden unbuckled himself.​

​

He had heard some kind of thud from the cargo hold, but just before making his jump. Whatever it was, he knew it was too late to turn around for. It was likely a droid that didn't make it off the ship in time. That certainly would not be a first. Holden was always in a rush it seemed. He sighed walking back to the cargo bay, and as he opened the door he let out a massively loud curse.​

​

"Frack! No way... not again."​

​

His eyes fell on the young stowaway, brunette, pretty. At least she was not bleeding all over his ship. That time Holden had to do basic field medicine which resulted in the woman losing her pants, and endless jokes about Tark seeing her panties. One thing about the Corellian, he was true to his kin.​

​

Rather than find out what the woman was doing on the ship, he simply shut the door. The last time he dealt with a stowaway it had been trouble. She was being hunted, Tark had been knocked out, and felt obligated to save the person, and his bruised ego.​

​

"Nope... nuh-uh," he kept repeating as he walked to the lounge to find the first bottle of whiskey he could find.​

 

[Asori Soto]

---
Location: Outer Rim
Wearing: xxx
Tag: Holden Tark
---

Fortunately, the crates were empty, but still heavy. She narrowly avoided the corners, by the lid dislodged from one of the boxes hit her head. Oh no. That would be a welt sooner rather than later. "Oh, god," moaned Asori as she tried to wriggle her way out from the fort gravity had created all around her.

The sound of her soft voice and the slight squeaks of durasteel against the deck were the only one she heard for a few moments until the swish of the blast door called her attention to the threshold. Stood on her feet but doubled over to rub the pain out of her knees, she froze. When the man cursed and subsequently closed the door, she composed herself, and snatched her hat from where it had fallen on the floor during her crate kerfuffle.

"Nonono," she echoed, but with a wholly different connotation, crossing the bay. "P-please, sir!" She was flying by the seat of her pants, stringing one improvised word to the next. A plan would come to her in the following moments, as she followed this man she had never met through the corridors that punctuated his life.

...Right?

Spoiler - it would not.

 

[Holden Tark]

LOCATION: Outer Space
WEARING: xxx
TAG: Asori Soto

​

Oh kark... she was following him. Of course she was following him. Holden let out a heavy sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose and poured a little more whiskey in his glass than he should have. He also pulled a second glass out, and poured some for the girl. Just because he had a stowaway it did not mean he wasn't going to at least offer some booze. He should hear the story that came with the pretty face, but the last thing he needed was an interruption to this job... again...​

​

The glass was offered without any introductions.​

​

"Please sir, what? Last I checked you snuck onto my ship... not nice. Last time someone did that they bled all over my cargo hold. I had to cut her pants off... leave her sitting in her panties for a while..."​

​

Holden took a long slow drink of the amber liquid as he let it slide down his throat and into his stomach. The burn of it was familiar, soothing. He was not an alcoholic by an imagination of the word, but he loved a good whiskey. A smirk tugged at his lips as the question in his mind found its way to his tongue.​

​

"You aren't gonna bleed all over my cargo hold are you... cuz you don't seem like the type that likes to run around in her panties with mixed when in mixed company."​

​

Holden set the glass on the counter.​

​

"Though I could be wrong," he added with a playful wink.​

 

[Asori Soto]

---
Location: Outer Rim
Wearing: xxx
Tag: Holden Tark
---

Standing at the counter opposite Holden, Asori froze.

"Please sir, what?"

It was like an exam question she hadn't studied for. And it was an open-ended essay too; there was no way she could just cut her losses, make the most statistically probable guess, and move on. Now, she was stuck here, to the floor, by the cold nervous chill that ran the length of her spine. If his dreamy blue eyes were the headlights of a landspeeder, she was a cattail deer caught in front of them.

Whether preoccupied by imminent doom or Holden himself, Asori missed most of his speech. The end, however, snapped her trance in two and she could finally escape. She took a step back, scoffing. "The only audience that has seen me traipsing about in my drawers has been my collection of minerals and of it they will never tell, Captain." Not only could they not speak (obviously), but she had left them on Sanbra, as donations to the University upon her graduation.

If everything went according to plan, she'd find herself plenty more.

 

[Holden Tark]

LOCATION: Outer Space
WEARING: xxx
TAG: Asori Soto

Holden leaned against the counter as he watched the girl for a moment. She was some kind of mess. It was cute, but he would never admit that he found it endearing. Her frazzled nature, the way she rambled on like she was confused as to what was going on, all of it made the Corellian sympathetic to her plight. The only exception was she had stowed away on his ship.​

​

The scavenger smirked.​

​

Somewhere she seemed to find her spine, and sense of humor. Her retort caused a chuckle to escape Holden's lips as he shook his head.​

​

"I would imagine your rocks would not be giving away your secrets anytime soon. Though, for the record, if you want to traipse about in your underthings, I have no problem with it. I'm likely to do the same... used to being alone on the ship after all."​

​

His acceptance was returned with a quip of his own, one which seemed to indicate he was not going to space her. For now, she was safe, and had a place to lay her head. Though, Holden was genuinely curious. The empty glass that had been in his hand was not on the counter as his arms folded over his chest. He did his best to give the woman a serious look as he set to question her some more, and even though he usually did not have a serious bone in his body, the Corellian could keep it together for the sake of business... again that was ex-cop in him.​

​

"So you snuck on my ship... you running from someone, looking for work... something else? You gotta tell me why you're here, and then tell me... why you didn't ask first?"​

 

[Asori Soto]

---
Location: Outer Rim
Wearing: xxx
Tag: Holden Tark
---

The drink set before her went untouched. She wasn't that naïve.

Her sympathetic nervous system kicked on and she too crossed her arms. "I was...uh..." she began. What? "Uh..." Come on, Asori. She gulped, then sighed. "A mix of all." There we go. That wasn't too hard. "I'm running from my family, looking for work." She had unfolded her arms to act out her statement. "If they- I'm worried they're keeping track of transport off Sanbra. But, see, without a passenger log, I'm safe!" She stopped and blinked at Holden, eyes finding his for the first time in a few moments. That look washed over her again, a rouge wave with and undeniable pull ready to sweep her legs and take her out to sea. "I am safe...right?"

The insinuation was for him. She needed to hear that she was.

Or, well, wasn't, so she could deal with that too. Somehow.

 

[Holden Tark]

LOCATION: Outer Space
WEARING: xxx
TAG: Asori Soto

Holden looked at the glass, the one that remained untouched. Part of him wanted to shake his head. Did she think he was trying to get her drunk? Sure maybe the drink was meant to take edge off things, but he was drinking to. Responsibly. Holden put the cork back in the bottle before putting it away.​

​

It gave him time to listen to her story, or the one she was trying to come up with. There was nothing about her behavior, or the inflections in her voice which made him think she was lying to him.​

​

He let out a sigh, a small one, as he turned to face her. She needed to know she was safe. Holden nodded.​

​

"You're safe... and for the record I wasn't trying to get you drunk so I could see your underthings..."​

​

He leaned against the counter again, arms crossed over his chest once more.​

​

"I'm Holden. Not sure what kind of work you're looking for, but I can't promise we're heading somewhere you can find it. On a tight schedule for a crotchety client as it is, so I figure as long as you can keep your head down and stay outta the way when we get to where we are goin... you'll be just fine."​

​

His head motioned for her to follow him.​

​

"Guest quarters are there, though I am not sure the last time they were used. I hope they don't smell musty. Fresher is that way... med bay is there if you want to look at those knees. Gonna guess you scrapped them up back there."​

​

His head turned over his shoulder as leaned against the doorway to the room.​

​

"Seems like we're stuck with each other for a while... that gonna be a problem for ya?"​

 

[Asori Soto]

---
Location: Outer Rim
Wearing: xxx
Tag: Holden Tark
---

"...Really?" she muttered, but had the forethought to keep the rest of her comment to herself with bitten lip and entombed tongue. Couldda fooled me. Still, he didn't seem like a nerfherder frat boy. Or, he did - he looked the part - but the way he sounded made Asori doubt the cover. She needed to read the pages of his book.

W-wait. Not like that!

No underthings, remember?

Like an uranium dating textbook. No, er, solar-influenced geomorphology. Yeah. Way less exciting. She was just happy she had a quiet little nook in which to peruse, at least for the time being.

The daydreamt clouds that had gathered up around her pulled away as soon as Holden moved. As quickly as she could without jeopardizing her center of mass, she followed after him, listening intently all the while. "No way... Holden?" she replied, trying his name on for size. She stepped in front of him, almost in the threshold herself now, and stuck out a hand to shake. "Asori. And I think I will take a look at my knees, thank you much."