Pick Up in Aisle Voss

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

Joran ignored her use of Mando'a. In his youth he would of corrected her disrespect but now he was beyond caring. He had done this far too long to be bothered by the truth of who and what he was. Dar'manda. Soulless. He was a man without honor, distrusted and hated by those who once stood as brothers, sisters, fathers and uncles.

"Not far, Love" he answered as they walked through the ship yard. The hangers here on Voss were not a fifth the size of any of the ones on Nar Shaddaa but the other differences were few and far between. the familiar sound of dozens of different voices in a dozen of different languages buzzed around the hanger. there were spacers trading jests, traders peddling their wares and an uncountable number of workers going about their business.

It didn't take them long to cross through the small hanger and reach Joran's ship, "The Perseverance". mid sized and unassuming, Joran could not help but smile at the sight of his ship. His home since he was sixteen years old and his favorite place in the entire galaxy. Joran lowered the boarding ramp and took a few steps up before turning back to Nei
"Let's be on our way."

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

"Tcha," she said again. The Nautolan continued to walk alongside him, her large black eyes scanning the crowds for potential danger. Highly unlikely here on Voss, even with the larger diversity in the spaceport, but it was an old habit of hers.

Besides, if there was danger she could just stand behind the human until he was all shot up. She wouldn't mind him saving her like that.

They finally reached his ship, but Nei didn't give it any more than a quick appraisal before stalking up the boarding ramp. "Yeah, let's," the woman called back. Like a soldier on a mission, she walked down the halls, peeking her head into each room until finally...

"Hmmm hmmmm." Nei stepped into kitchen and began to rummage in the cabinets, looking for something to drink. Her first stop was the lower cabinets, and she got down on her knees, her head and arms concealed inside. Within a few seconds, her eyes caught sight of a very expensive-looking bottle of who-knew-what, and her fingers curled around its neck. "Here we go," the Nautolan whispered to herself, her tone victorious and conveying the fact that she'd momentarily forgotten about Joran.

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

Joran let Nei go explore while he made his way to the cockpit, there wasnt anything she could get into that he wasn't okay with, despite what she make think Joran was a good smuggler and smart enough to lock up the things that were for his eyes only.

Joran sat in front of his controls an ashtray littered with used cigars sat to his left and a crystal glass empty save for the melted ice to his right, soaking in the pleasnt feeling of a comfortable place as his hands absentmindly worked the controls nessecary to get them to orbit. .

The Perseverance broke orbit above Voss and just sat there as Joran got from his chair and stalked down the halls looking for Nei. He eventually found her in the kitchen rumaging through his cabinets.

"You remember the rules, Love. You pour one for you then you pour one for me." he jeered at her as he tried to get a look at what exactly she had found. "I, was wondering. Do you have a specific destination in mind or...?"

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

Nei let out a soft yelp, jumping up and hitting her head on the top of the cabinet. "Sonuva schutta," she muttered. Letting out a soft grunt, the female wriggled out with the practiced ease of someone used to squirming out of small spaces.

Readjusting her suit, she whirled around and gave the si'hklesi foh a look. "Yeah, yeah. I not forget." Meanwhile, she kept the bottle hidden behind her back. It was a bottle of Tevraki whiskey -- delicious and, while not extremely rare, was still valuable in its own right. And the Nautolan was fairly certain Joran wouldn't be too happy with her drinking it.

Turning towards the little bar, she got out two glasses and began to fill them, making her drink a little bit fuller than his. Not that the human would notice (or so she thought). Back still turned, she answered his question. "Yep. Here. In orbit. We wait for the kid to get here, and then we dock. I leave, you go, we be happy. Sound good?"

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

"Aye, Happy, be we."

this was turning out much simpler than Joran had imagined. If all he had to do was get her out in to orbit, she might as well of waited for the kid to fly all the way in, but Joran was not going to complain about being owed a favor and once she was off his ship he could go back down to Voss and look up that red head, see if he couldnt earn her forgiveness.

Before all of that however, Joran did have a question he'd liked answered.

" 'Scuse me, Love. I do wonder, how is it you come to lost your ship?"

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

At his question, a curious thing happened to Nei. Her tresses, always in motion like a cat's tail, now laid stiff and lifeless. Her whole body tensed to the point where if someone picked her up, it'd be like waving around a post. The skin of her knuckles had also whitened, and as she half-turned towards Joran, if one were paying attention, he or she would notice a haunted look in her face.

Truth was, at the human's question, the memories she'd been trying to suppress came flooding back. The desert. The statues. The bones, and how they'd all faced in one direction.

The horizon.

That horrible, thoughtless, empty horizon. Even now, Nei could vaguely feel the pull of the horizon, the Dark temptation to merely lie down and forget her life, her ship, her galaxy. If it hadn't been for that man, [member="Jace Voidstalker"], the Nautolan would probably still be there, her bones just another addition to the grim collection of victims.

Hands shaking, the female took a swig from her glass in order to regain her strength. Damn him, Nei thought angrily. Damn that stupid human for always catching me when I'm weak! Damn him for bringing back those memories!

With the burning sensation left by the alcohol came a renewed sense of strength, and Nei turned around, brusquely giving Joran his glass. "Rift came, I be sucked in, I escape. That's it." Her manner might have projected her usual grumpiness and foul temperament, but Nei's voice betrayed the fact that whatever happened had changed her.

For better or worse, was to be found out in the future. Not that the stupid would care.

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

"That's it, eh?" He asked her skeptically. Nei had put on a good show of down playing her distress, but Joran could tell his question stirred some feelings in her, one did not after all live as long as he did in this line of work without being able to read others.

Joran stepped over to Nei and plucked the glass she poured for him from her hand, and took a drink. The two smugglers were now standing close to each other, intimately so but not uncomfortablely. They were so close now that Joran could see clearly just how pretty she is, but he could also see how young and damaged she is and it made him feel for her. Not pity, no he would never pity her or anyone else that chose the life they chose to lead but he felt... something.

"If, you think of any more details, Love, I'd be glad to hear them." For maybe the first time ever Joran was truly scincere with Nei. He knew alot more than he would care too about keeping painful memories.

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

' Yeah, that be it,' she would have said. "Would" being the key term. Except she wasn't expecting Joran to be right-there.

Nei had grabbed the human's drink, intending to give it to him herself. But when she turned, the Nautolan found him to be standing close to her -- enough so that it wasn't difficult for him to grab the drink himself.

For a moment, she was lost. Nei normally didn't tolerate individuals invading her personal space, but this was different -- for one, it was borderline invasion and borderline something else. And quite frankly, she didn't know if she wanted to determine what the something else was.

Then he offered to listen to her ordeal. That earned him a long, hard look from the female. Except for the one time when they'd been drinking together, Joran had never actually shown any interest in the toils and troubles of Nei Laa, and that was just how she liked it.

So why now? Why offer? The Nautolan's injured tress twitched slightly as she attempted to read the pheromones. Nothing indicated that he was being anything less than sincere, causing her to be even more confused.

Unless-- dare she--? Her hearts began to beat a little quicker as she considered the though. What if-- what if they-- She was having difficulties saying it in her own mind!-- What if they were sort of kinda maybe becoming...

Friends? Nei gave a mental snort. Of course not! Joran was too stuck up for her liking, and they didn't have enough similarities to be friends.

And yet here he was, offering an ear for her experiences in The Netherworld.

"Name's not 'Love'," she muttered quietly, adding in a louder voice, "Fine. But don't laugh."

Nei took a long swig, then began to recount what happened -- how she awoke suddenly in a great, dry, terrifying canyon with gigantic statues and bones littered about, and a suffocating silence that didn't help her fear. How she was so terrified of dying alone that she began to scream the names of everyone she knew, in the hopes that someone would hear her -- even him.

She told him, too, how finally she came across a Jedi, [member="Jacen Voidstalker"], though she hadn't known it at the time -- she just knew that he was a Force User. For a moment something akin to mischievousness appeared as she recounted how, upon seeing Jacen, Nei began to run at him, firing off her blasters and very nearly hitting him. She didn't though, as her only intent was to scare him of and test his mettle (so she claimed).

Eventually, though, the two decided it would be best to work together in order to escape. "He reminded me a bit of you," Nei told Joran. "Was a father of a son, I think. I not remember exactly. But he not be as annoying as you."

And that was where the horizon came into the scene.

"The horizon..." Nei shrank away from Joran, wishing very much that that part of the tale was simply a bad dream -- except, deep down, the Nautolan would always know it to be true.

Taking another gulp from her glass, the female's large, black eyes looked up at the human, trying to gauge where he was emotionally. If it seemed like he was genuinely interested, Nei would continue on and finish getting everything off her chest. But one hint of boredom, lack of attention, or anything else...Well, Nei wouldn't keep talking, that's for sure.

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

"Wouldn't dream of it, Love." he said in response to her telling him not to laugh.

Joran listened to Nei explain her ordeal in polite silence, the only noise coming from him was the clinking of ice in his glass as he drank. He hadn't known before today that Nei was one of the people to disapear all that time ago. He knew people who vanished and never came back, and he was glad she was not one of them.

A smirk flashed across his face as she recounted shooting at her eventual companion, the moment she saw him. The consistancy of somethings were funny. The first time Joran had ever met Nei, she shoved a blaster in his face.

Joran was a little taken aback when she said Jacen reminded her of him. To think that she thought of Joran at all while she was in such a place was surprising to hear.

She mentioned the horizon and to Joran's surprising disappointment she turned from him. He could tell this was the most difficult part for her to talk about. He wanted to hear more, but he wouldn't push her, it was already more than shocking that she had been this open with him.

"What about the horizion?" he asked softly.

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

To say that Nei was shocked about Joran truly being interested would be an understatement. And with his soft prompt, any doubts as to his sincerity of his request disappeared. For the moment, anyway.

"I not understand exactly what the horizon be, but... it did something funny to my head. Made me forget who I was, made me..." She thought for a moment, recalling how Jacen had described it. "It make your head hollow, and it makes you want to just stay there and not do anything. Like a siren call -- you forget what danger you be in. One look, and bam!" She snapped her fingers. "You be hooked."

Nei shuddered. "The first time I looked, be my fault. He say it be bad to look at horizon, but I not believe him."

While she recounted her first experience with that horrible unknown enemy, the Nautolan relived the memory in her mind.

As he made a comment about the corpses, Nei found herself looking at them as well. Funny, but until he said something she'd never noticed how they all seemed to all be facing the same direction -- behind Jacen. In fact, the more she thought about it, the creepier it was. Her tresses coiling in distress, she frowned. "It make your head hollow? What be so special about the horizon?"

In what could legitimately be considered a stupid move, the Nautolan took her eyes off of the human and stepped forward so that she had a clear view of the horizon.

And oh, what a horizon it was. It shouldn't have been there, but it was. And it was calling to her, it seemed. Nei felt as if she could stand there and stare at the horizon for forever. Why shouldn't she? It would be so much easier to simply stay there and not worry about anything.

She felt everything leave her mind. There was no Nei Laa, only another body to add to the population of bones. Enraptured by the strange, hypnotic lull of the horizon, the Nautolan slowly sank to her knees and sat back, docile as a lamb as she simply stared ahead, blank-faced. It was so peaceful, sitting there. Nei had never known such peace, such…nothingness. In fact, she was perfectly content to just sit there and join the ranks of corpses, becoming one of them soon—

Knuckles white as she gripped her glass, the female looked back up at Joran. "I would have stayed there forever, if he not move to block it. It be my worst nightmare -- an unknown enemy who I not be able to fight against.

"But we did, eventually. I wanted to climb the walls, but they be too high and we not have the right equipment. His plan be to face the horizon, but walk backwards. Tcha!" The scowl on her face went back to a solemn look. "He clearly beat the horizon, probably because of his stupid Force powers. But I...I be....I be afraid. Afraid that I not be able to beat the horizon." Nei rubbed her forehead. "Even I know I not be the sharpest knife in the box."

She took another breath, and told Joran how, after seeing Jacen do it, Nei was determined not to let the horizon, or the Force User, one-up her. So, she grabbed his hand so she could have an anchor (and so he wouldn't leave her) and looked out.

"It took me again. I felt myself being emptied, and not caring about anything. But there was this little voice in my head -- it told me to remember myself, and not be stupid. That, and Jacen kept moving." A small expression of self-pride lit Nei's face. "I managed to escape the horizon, and we escaped that stupid canyon. But not long after, that si'hklesi foh ran off after this... person by a boat. I chased him, and then suddenly I be on Voss." Nei finished her tale, and looked down at her glass. Faint surprise crossed her mind as she realized her glass was now empty, and she twisted around to refill it. "Then I went to that inn, and sent out a message to you and the kid. And that be it."

Story done, the Nautolan let out a long breath. "But what I wouldn't give to be swimming in the ocean right now."

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

Joran had no idea what to say. He had never gone through something like that, sure he had his fair share of shit laid at his door step and on some days it seemed like he had more bad memories than good, but he hadn't faced something of a metaphysical and mystic nature such as the rift or that horizon Nei had. He had no idea how to comfort her, how to let her know, he was grateful for her trusting him enough to tell him about her ordeal.

Joran had always seen her as a stuck up, naive, over matched girl who was not cut out for the work they did. But now, after learning what kind of trust, resilience and determination she had to show to make it back to the physical world, Joran had to look at her different. He had to admit she had a strength he wasn't even sure he would have. clearly her attitude was still piss poor, but maybe he would work harder to not push her buttons...maybe.

"Nei, I don't know what to..." he began to say "You know what, Love? You want the ocean? I can take you to the ocean." Why? what was he doing? She wasn't here setting up a date, she was grabbing her ship and leaving and here Joran was like an idiot, treating her like some heart hurt little girl that had been crying on his shoulder over a drink.

"You know what? Forget I said anything." he said to her embarrassed as he finished off his drink.

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

Nei watched the human in silence, his pheromones strong enough that she was able to pick them up without a problem; but even if she did not have these abilities, it would have been easy for the female to get a sense of what he was feeling, as they were written on his face.

It was weird, his reaction. Even with his interest in what had happened to Nei, the female hadn't expected him to be like this -- to thoughtlessly offer to take her to the ocean, and then act all embarrassed about it. Heck, Nei couldn't even remember seeing him embarrassed, period. But the fact that Joran didn't offer a snide comment or tease her for being afraid was, well...it was enough that she didn't reprimand him for calling her "Love" again. In fact, the absurdity of it helped wash away the bad emotions brought on by reliving her memories, and though she wouldn't admit it, she was rather grateful for the offer.

Setting her glass down, the Nautolan crossed her arms and leaned back. "Too late," Nei told him. Her brow furrowed slightly, she ran a few calculations in her head. "A beach visit would be much welcome. And we have at least a day, if not more before the kid gets here. I say we go find a nice beach that be secluded and hang out there until he comes." She flashed a wry smile at the other spacer. "And if we end up trying to kill each other, I be capable of sleeping in the water."

While she waited for him to say something, a little thought kept niggling at her, like a shadow from a candle flame. Something that Joran had said, just a minute ago...Holy kriff! she exclaimed in her mind. He used my name!

Then, a smug little thought followed that helped to further erase the feelings brought back by her story: I be getting through to him, finally.

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]


"Yeah? Alright then, let's spend us a nice relaxing night on the beach." Joran said with a cheeky smile, trying to recover from his embarassment and hide his surprise. Joran was glad for the excuse to go back to the cockpit and avoid standing in awkward silence. He punched some things into the nav computer and after a moment found what he was looking for.

Telling Nei over the comms to hold on to something Joran brought The Perseverance back through Voss' atmosphere toward the surface, though not back to the space port they just left. Joran took them some few hundred miles to the east, past the port and the jungle and what ever else before the crystal clear ocean waters were below them and even then he went out further before finding their destination: a small island far from the shore, sure to fit the description of secluded.

He touched the ship down softly into the white sands, the landing gears sinking ever so slightly down in the soft earth.

"Here we are, Love. Sand and spray, as promised."

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

Nei ducked out of the room with Joran, though instead of going to the cockpit she went to the holoterminal, sending another recorded message to [member="Vagabond Crimson"].

"Oi, Vag, we be going planetside to, uh... avoid certain people. Send me a ping when you be here, and we come meet you. Reply soon as you get this, kay? And don't eat all my food!" Message sent, Nei rubbed the side of her face. Surely she would have heard something from him by now, right? She just hoped he (and her ship) were alright.

Joran's voice came over the comms, warning her to hold onto something as they entered the atmosphere again. She ignored him and promptly stumbled towards the cockpit, entering just as they touched down.

The Nautolan came to stand next to the human's chair, an almost wistful expression on her face. "It be too long," she whispered as her eyes took in the glistening waters and the white sand.

Nei frowned suddenly, looking from the island to Joran and then finally, to her armour. The Nautolan was paranoid about going without her armour in unfamiliar terrain, especially with someone else.

Then again, both times that Nei was armourless Joran had been there -- once at a Red Ravens party, and another time when he'd attempted to Train her in the art of better fighting (that had certainly been interesting). In any case, nothing bad had happened, and they were on a secluded island on Voss... Tcha. It not be too bad.

And hey, if she was gonna die at least she'd be dead near water.

Her mind decided, and without further ado, the Nautolan gently placed her guns in the passenger seat and began to carefully strip off her armour. As much as she'd love to wear it, saltwater was bad for her armour and it would be cumbersome to swim in it.

Before long, Nei was clad only in her black racerback bra and a pair of black fitted briefs (she never understood why women wanted to wear the lacy, clingy, and completely impractical stuff. At least her ensemble didn't restrict her movement or ride up under her suit). That done, the Nautolan promptly spun around and walked out, pausing only to say, "Let me know if the kid messages back."

Then, before she knew it, the child of Water was driving into the ocean.

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

In an altogether surprising move Nei stripped down to her skivies right then and there and boy did she look, well, wow. Joran did not even hide his staring as she walked out of the cockpit but she did not see to notice, so focused was she on getting in the water. He couldn't blame her, the water did look unbearably inviting.

Joran was a bit slower to get out to the water, he had to stop and fill his glass another time, draining the contents in one swing before filling it again and polishing that third glass off as well. Finally after getting nice and loose, Joran too stripped down to his unmentionables and got into the surf.

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

Nei slid into the water like she belonged, though she only went far enough that the water was a half foot above her head. There, she hung suspended, feeling the tide pull her back and forth as her tresses floated around her head. For the first time in a while, Nei felt calm, or at least relaxed. And not relaxed in the sense of the horizon, either, but the feeling one gets after returning home from a long journey. Pleased, the Nautolan shut her eyes and simply floated there.

[Music]​

​

Suddenly she felt something nip her nose. Startled, Nei opened her eyes to find herself face to face with a small, colourful fish. Her large black eyes met its little yellow-green ones, and it darted away. Unsure of what to make of the incident, Nei did a mental shrug and closed her eyes again.

She again felt a nip on her nose, and looked to see the fish back again. Blinking, Nei moved forward, but again it swam away. Kriff. A playful fish, who knew? The fish had disappeared once more, so the Nautolan closed her eyes -- but only partially. This time, she waited deliberately for the fish to show up. For the third time, it showed up, but Nei was ready. As soon as it got close to her face, she darted forward through the water, brushing her fingers against its scaly body. But she didn't catch it; rather, she let it go and was about to chase after it when another noise caught her attention.

The female swam back towards shore, floating as far as she could before needing to walk. The noise, it seemed, came from Joran, who decided to join her. Once she got close enough, Nei said, "You scared away my friend."

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

Joran hit the water the salt stinging his eyes. Joran floated on the surface his mind drifitng back in time to Dantooine and lake Loagai. Long days of working the fields, washed away in the calm, cool, clear waters, while he hung out with his friends. Even the time he almost drowned trying to show off to one of the girls.

"You scared away my friend." Nei chaistised as she swam over to him.

"Sorry, Love. Looks like I'm gonna have to do for company."

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

"Tcha. Name's not 'Love'. And it tried to bite my nose, anyway." As the human floated on his back, Nei swum in a slow circle around him. "Too bad you not be able to breathe underwater, like me. I not understand how you humans lasted so long." She paused for a moment, then said in an almost teasing manner, "Maybe it be because you breed like womp rats."

She flashed a cocky grin at him then dived down quickly, in case Joran hoped to retaliate. It wasn't very far to the sandy bottom, though (in fact, if he stood up, the water would only be up to Joran's mouth), so she began to look for shells and such.

While she searched, Nei marvelled at the fact that, upon boarding the ship, she and the human had not yet jumped down each other's throats. A true record, for those two. Similarly, he looked at her differently, ever since she related what had happened in that other place. She certainly hoped it wasn't because he pitied her; now that would have certainly been offensive, more so than anything else he'd said or done.

That bothered her, so abandoning her search Nei swam back up to Joran. As soon as her head breached the surface, she blurted, "Why you offer to bring me here, anyway?"

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

His breeding had never been compared to that of a womp rat before. Of course she hadn’t met him specifically, but still. Before could give what was sure to be an amazing once in a lifetime poetic-stinging-but-still-funny come back she was gone. Down she dove to the shallow bottom doing who knows what. Joran closed his primed to retort mouth and continued to float in place peacefully.

It didn’t take long for his peace to be interrupted by Nei bursting from the still water and accosting him about his motives for inviting her here.

“Momentary loss of sanity?” He offered glibly. Truthfully, he offered because despite all reason he did like the girl, and her story showed she was beyond strong and there was more to her than he had expected and as hard and uncaring as he could be, Joran could not help but want to reward such perseverance. In short: She earned it.

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

Nei snorted. " 'Momentary'? I think you lost your insanity long time ago, vilur." Poking his arm, her face grew more serious. "Really, though. Why you do it? It be because of what happened in that place?"

The poke turned into a jab as the Nautolan inadvertently got herself riled up. "It better not be because of that! I not like charity -- too fishy. I beat your nurkan if that be the case!"

Okay, that last bit was more fluff than anything else. Though her pride wouldn't let her admit otherwise, both Nei and Joran knew who would really win. Then again, they were in the water, so perhaps the odds would be evened a bit.