Rush

[Delilah Keyes]

She didn't answer him right away. Setting a pot of water on to boil, she absently scattered something from a small tin into a delicate porcelain tea pot that closely resembled some of the work down stairs.

After opening up the window to let in the night air, Del sank into her favorite chair- she'd comissioned it after a particularly lucrative heist a few months back, and the pale coral upholstery cupped around her perfectly.

"Cup of tea," she said promptly, her eyes closing and propping her feet up on a small matching ottoman. "Eat. Then sleep."

She breathed in deeply, the scent of home surrounding her and grounding her. The salt, the sound of the sea, the underlying presence of old wood and warming spices.

"Never make plans when hungry and exhausted. You'll miss something and by the time you're in a clear headspace again, the first plan will already have worn a hole in your thinking and make it that much harder to see what you missed."

Which wasn't at all helpful, and she knew it. She wasn't trying to be deliberately unhelpful here, but in truth, it was a bad idea to plan too much out until they had a chance to refresh.

"The first thing we're going to need is capital," she said, opening her eyes with a sigh. "I have some intel I've been sitting on, hoping that it's sister information would make it's way to me. Worth a lot more together, but might not have the luxury of being picky about it. Couple other things I might be able to scrounge up as well....."

What was that thing, that artefact, that Sonny had said he wanted? She sent the mental equivalent of a hunting hound out in her mind to dig it up and brought her actual attention back to the present.

"Without credits, there's jack and kark-all we can do about any of it. Can't buy them off. Can't bribe anyone. Can't even go to ground effectively. Sure, this place is safe, but still need rent, and the small jobs around here will bore us both to death in a month."

The tea kettle started to whistle and she levered herself back out of the chair.

[member="Walker Ducote"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

It annoyed him.

But she was right.

Already Walk could feel his mental faculties slowing down, holes in his logic, emotions firing up and taking control of the narrative. They didn't need emotions now, they needed logic, pragmatism and a long-eyed look at the future. Because everything hinged on what they were going to do next. With a nod he accepted one of the poured cups after Del returned with them, taking an inquisitive sip from it.

Hot, but not scalding.

Just the pleasant touch of... tea, he didn't actually know what it was.

Not like Walk was a tea person.

"This is nice, what is it?" He inquired, while letting his mind roll around the possibilities. "Either way, we can't buy them off. Not anymore we can't."

It seemed rather logical to him, but maybe Del saw it too and just didn't want to say it out-loud. He took another sip and hummed in satisfaction, before opening his eyes and sizing her up. "We made them look like fools, every minute we are free is a minute their control is slipping. They rule by fear and power. Every day their goons look at them and wonder..."

A shrug.

"Buy 'em off, they will take the money and then quietly eliminate us to reinforce their position."

It didn't matter that both of them were worth more alive (or Del anyway), because some currencies were worth more than credits.

 

[Delilah Keyes]

"Something they started exporting from Monastery recently, some Jedi discovered it I think," she said absently.

She didn't know if it was the exhaustion talking, but she thought that he might be wrong- at least about Sonny. Fredo? No. Hutts weren't known for letting a slight go. But somewhere, something, if she could remember what the damnable thing was called....

Del made an irritated sound deep in her throat, then a long breath let out low and slow.

Glancing over at [member="Walker Ducote"], she caught the appraisal, arching an eyebrow at him in return.

"Probably right. Not short of the crown jewels of Naboo anyway and even I'm not that good. Probably. Doesn't change the need for capital though, just the reason for it."

She stood again with her tea cup. Despite being tired, she was restless. Taking a sip, she paced back over to the window, looking out over what she considered her own personal slice of the beach below.

"I don't know how Fredo works in particular, just the Hutts in general. You'll have to watch for bounty hunters, if he's like the rest- pretty lazy, but willing to throw money at a pride problem. Sonny..... he won't involve outsiders. He'll send his goons directly. Already he's gotten word out to his plants, probably by morning he'll have reached all of them. I'll have to operate outside of his usual area of control to move around safely."

Good thing for Del, her first stop was going to be Dosuun, and Sonny had no power there.

"Sonny will minimize. Dismiss. Oh, not that he's angry, but why he's angry," she murmured thoughtfully, thumb running around the rim of her cup. "I'd put money on the fact that anyone in his organization who knows what happened- what they think happened anyway, is already dead. Which, in a way, means he has more leeway with how he tries to deal with me, and what I can leverage from the situation."

If I'm careful.

"Fredo. Besides the bit with the Nuna, chit, even for a hutt that's messy, what can you tell me about him?"

 

[Delaney Wilder]

Their weakness, the real weakness they were experiencing, wasn't the fact that they didn't have money.

It wasn't even that they were up against a criminal organization or two. No, the issue was that they were still considering their problems separately. Hoping, wondering, dreaming that both Sonny and Fredo didn't yet link both of them up and realize that they were in this together. They weren't, of course. It was just a mistake, but that didn't matter for crime lords like them. They saw what they wanted to see. And what they saw were two career criminals (both of them mandalorians), who had suddenly gone rogue while being in league with each other.

"Crazy." Walk responded after a moment, while nursing his tea. What he wouldn't give to get some rum or whiskey, or something strong in his system right at this very moment, but that didn't seem in the cards right now.

"More so than most Hutts. Likes to take a chance or two. The people working with him are scared fecklessly and won't ever turn against him." At least not as far as Walker could see. "They are just as crazy as Fredo is- they want to reclaim the entirety of Hutt Space, feck the Silver Jedi or anyone else." They operated not out of pragmatism, but out of belief.

The most dangerous object there was.

"They will fight 'til the very end and then some."

A shrug of the shoulders, as he took another sip and finished his tea, before setting it down on the table. It was the basic explanation for why they allowed him to carry the drugs in the first place, instead of signing up a more experienced user.

"Earned a feth load of money during the Netherworld crisis though. Which explains why he is as strong as he is right now."

 

[Delilah Keyes]

Del didn't think their problems hinged on credits. But she did think that having a tidy stack would ease certain aspects of what they were going to have to do. Money doesn't matter.... until you don't have enough, and then it matters quite a bit actually.

"That is.... not what I was hoping to hear," she groaned.

"Why can't we piss of dumb, normal criminals? That sounds like fun, let's do *that* next time."

We. Let's. Next time.

Could have been the tired. Could have been acceptance of the inevitable, but there it was. The two were, at least for now, a team, and the language she was starting to use reflected that.

"I don't know about you," she said, heading toward the kitchen nook. "But I'm going to eat. Then pass out thoroughly until the oppressive weight of certain death wakes me up and then I will roll over, wake *you* up, and find some way to distract us both that will be hopefully exhausting and require showers after. Sound good to you? Objections, comments, concerns?"

[member="Walker Ducote"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

Ducote snorted, but did notice the subtle change of wording.

Not sure how he felt about it.

On the one hand they did make an... interesting team and Walk actually liked Del. Didn't help that it had been moderately his idea to stick together in the first place, but there was always that part of Walker. The little core figment that was loath to accept help from anyone and admit he couldn't handle things on his own. It usually reflected itself in a tendency to fade away into the background, then disappear once nobody was looking. But that wasn't an option here. Not with Fredo breathing down his neck with a price of several magnitudes higher than he had weighing him down.

A smirk pushed itself up, once she explained part of the plan after the food and passing-out routine. "Oh, I think I can go for a few more rounds later." He followed her into the kitchen next.

It was like walking into the nerve center of an alien starship.

"It's good we got take-out." He remarked, before leaning against the counter. "Can't cook worth a damn and I think we still need all of our teeth."

Turning around Walk helped her get the goods out and put them on the table.

Might not be able to cook, but he could be helpful in other ways. "It's a good place you got here, calm, secluded, I can see why you are so protective about it."

Shrug of the shoulders.

"Thanks for taking a chance." Sure, she needed him just as much as he needed her, but it couldn't ever hurt to acknowledge when a person was pushing their own boundaries. It was clear Del hadn't been exactly comfortable with this arrangement.

But she had done it anyway.

 

[Delilah Keyes]

"Favorite place was closed," she mumured as they spread out the containers. She didn't bother pulling down plates, just utensils and handing them over to Walker as she poured another cup of tea for both of them. "But this one is at least compatible with our bio chemistry..... unless you are secretly a shape shifter, in which case, you're karked and I'll eat yours."

She didn't answer the second part right away, her face closing off a bit as they finished setting up and sitting down. She pulled a container over, flipping it open and stirring the spicy noodles around for a moment before starting to eat.

For all of the confidence, the surety, the devil-may-care smirk, Del had her insecurities. It was why she so jealously kept her space private. It was, at its core, a sanctuary from the personas she wore like a second skin at all times. It was the place she could let down the layers of chameleon colours and just *be*. Walker had already seen three versions of Delilah, none of which were purely her. And with him here now, there was still a part of that she wouldn't take off. Like a pair of familiar shoes that should have been removed at the door, she didn't like the sound of those metaphorical heels on the forgiving driftwood floors.

"Don't worry about it, no big deal," she said casually, waving her fork at him before motioning to trade containers. "The noodles are good, how's that one?"

She'd let him into her home. She wasn't really prepared to let him in further- or even to admit that she'd really let him in at all.

[member="Walker Ducote"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

"I wish I was." Ducote responded with a smirk. "Would make this entire ordeal much easier."

For real.

He tried to imagine how it was like to be able to simply fade away out of existence with a new face. Dropping the old one and living an entirely different life. In the meantime he took a bite from the chicken and hummed in appreciation - very deli and spicy, just what the doctor had ordered after their brush with death.

That also give him the excuse to just nod, instead of saying anything to her first remark.

Oh, she actually casually, but this place was special to her. That was why Sonny didn't know about it - he bet that the list of people who were aware of this place was small... very small. Maybe numbering in single digits.

But Walk decided it was best not to prod at it.

No good would come from it. "Oh, yeah, the chicken? tastes great, bit spicy." He managed to mumble out, before trading. "Here." While trading, he took a sip from the tea and hummed in pleasure again. Still good.

"Didn't realize how hungry I was, until I started chewing." The mention came in between bites. "So, what do you do in-between taking names and earning stacks?"

Might be a bit early, but Walk always had the capability to laugh at his own misfortune.

Maybe not exactly when it was happening, yet, after some time has passed? There wasn't really a different way to handle things. It would only eat at you otherwise. But if you learned how to laugh at it? There were few things that could truly bring you down in a permanent fashion.

 

[Delilah Keyes]

She traded the sweet and spicy noodles for the chicken- spicier, richer and earthy, she almost regretted not getting out plates so she could mix the two containers together because that would be delicious. She glanced up at Walker, considered for a moment, then got up to get a pale aquamarine bowl from the cabinet before doing just that. She offered with her eyes to leave him some of both separate if he'd rather, but otherwise she'd dump both together and stir it around before leaving the bowl in the middle of the table between them.

"I seduce unknowing smugglers for a cut of their meager profits of course," she said with a smirk, humor in her eyes and on her lips before she took a bit of the combined dish.

The fact that it was suddenly far more than the sum of its parts- she actually paused for a moment, making an appreciative sound and pointing at it with her fork to encourage him to take a taste.

"Also end up replacing a lot of hats."

None of those were answers. But she did give him something.

"I like the beach," she admitted a moment later. "There's a saying around here- 'The cure for anything is salt water- blood, sweat, tears or the Sea.'" The fact that this version started with blood said a lot about the people of Velusia in her opinion. "I spend a lot of my time down there, when nothing else is going on."

She'd grown up on the shore, and she was never truly happy in a place where she couldn't feel the pull of the tides. Not for long, anyway.

"What about you?"

[member="Walker Ducote"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

Another snort, before taking a bite from the mix.

He blinked. Looked at her, nodded once... twice, then took another bite and munched on it, instead of saying anything. But that in itself was a vocal agreement. To be so occupied with the food, that you didn't even want to interrupt yourself to compliment it. "Ah, well, at least you get to try out different hats every once in a while." The remark came in between bites. At least, until he realized that if he kept eating like he wanted to eat... there wouldn't be much left for her.

An awkward cough, quick look at her and then back at his fork and Walk's eating speed noticeably slowed down.

"You should show me the beach tomorrow, after... the exercise and shower." He finally said with a smirk, only the previous thing was passed them and the perceived awkwardness was over.

In truth Walk didn't have much in the way of hobbies.

Wasn't much to do as a Mandalorian - you spend your time either fighting, patrolling, teaching or studying, civic service... drinking every once in a while. No, to say that there was a lot of opportunity for leisure would be a joke.

"I like to tinker with the ship?" A shrug of the shoulders. "Never really slowed down enough to figure out hobbies if I am honest."

"Might sound a bit silly, I guess."

 

[Delilah Keyes]

Honestly, if he hadn't slowed down when he did, she would have started fencing his fork with her own to lay claim to her due.

"Speaking of exercise-" she said after chewing a mouthful and herding a couple of the chunks of chicken to her side of the bowl.

"Actual exercise- don't give me that look Walk- you're not a fighter. I don't mean that in a bad way, not insulting you. And I mean, sure correct me if I'm wrong. But I think you should learn. Even if you never use it. I know you don't like violence, but there are things you can learn that don't have to involve breaking noses or shattering wrists or anything."

She sniped a piece of noodle he was about to go after, twirling it around her fork.

"Your reflexes are good, but I would trounce you, even in a fair fight, forget about an unfair one."

"I can take care of myself."

There was a glint in her eye.

"Wanna bet? Put your money where your mouth is? No. Seriously. Twenty credits says that I can take you, two downs out of three."

[member="Walker Ducote"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

Now the scowl appeared.

It didn't often appear, because Walk didn't believe in stewing in negativity. If there as a bad situation you handled it or tried to cope as best as you could, but you never tried to dwell on it. That was the road to disaster and ruin. But this was a reoccurring theme and trend that had nothing to do with anything pleasant.

"You sound awfully much like my mother, she also used to try and get me to do wagers like that." The scowl intensified, thinking about her death and how much that had changed for him.

Got herself killed fighting a battle that had nothing to do with her, while trying to fuel the ego of her Mand'alore. Their Mand'alor, but he had refused that legacy.

The scowl shifted as opportunity rose.

The most common mistake people made was thinking that he couldn't take care of himself. That because he didn't fight, didn't try to fight and usually tried to run... that it meant he didn't know an upper-cut from a Balmorran choke-out. The truth was different from that, of course.

Not that she knew that.

"But yeah, sure. A hundred credits though."

 

[Delilah Keyes]

The scowl was the first indication she had that she'd taken what was meant to be fun teasing too far.

Someone else might have gotten defensive. Someone else might have pried. Del just sat back, putting her fork down and spreading her hands out in front of her.

"I'm sorry," she said, her own smile turned chagrined, her tone both apologetic and sincere. She wasn't playing- while there were plenty of times she didn't really care if an apology was offered, when it mattered? She didn't hesitate to give one and mean it. She didn't offer excuses, or reasons why he shouldn't take it personally. After all, it didn't really matter. She'd said something that had clearly touched a nerve, and she hadn't meant to.

If she'd been trying? Different story completely.

And while she wouldn't say a thing about his, his response equally touched a nerve, but not one he needed to apologize for. She understood the tone and the sentiment all too well. She had her own issues with her family, and the idea of someone acting like her mother or grandfather in a way that reminded her too heavily of how she was a failure in their eyes? Well. She got it.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, Walk."

[member="Walker Ducarte"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Delilah Keyes"]

"Hey," His hand went up to ward off any apologies. "It's okay. You didn't and couldn't have known. I appreciate it and the offer."

Sure, it had cast a short shadow on his expression and feelings, but he wasn't the kind of guy to take it personally. The kind of guy to keep it salting and poisoning his feelings, it had been brushed away two moments after the hundred credit bet. Otherwise it simply wasn't a way to live.

Besides, he was free from them. They didn't define him anymore and that was the end of it- it meant that letting them dictate anything would only invite them back.

"I am not as terrible at a fight as you might think." He finally clarified, adding to the mix.

"But probably not as good as you are." Thinking back to the way she had moved on that space station? Without bringing in his pride or feelings into it? Yeah, she had quick, to the point and without any doubt. The warrior's stride. His mother had been amazing at it- when he was a little boy he had been staring at it (mouth wide-open and astonished), while she went through the parcour like it was a walk through the park.

"Show me what you got. I will buy you dinner, if you win." A smirk tugged again now, showing that they were okay and that Del didn't need to worry on his account.

 

[Delilah Keyes]

Someday, Del would look back on this moment and be able to say that *this* was the moment she decided that she liked @Walker Ducarte.

On that imaginary day, it would be easier to make a list of the reasons that was. The easy smile, the ability to accept an apology without grinding someone into the ground for it. His ready availability to admit when he wasn't the best at something (a rare enough quality in her line of work), but not allow himself to be rolled entirely over. Adrenaline, the frustration of the situation and sure, surface attraction had brought her to the cockpit. But it was the rest of it that made him welcome in her home.

She nodded, a smile returned that was a little less smirking and a little more thoughtful.

Fork corralled the second to last piece of chicken to her side of the bowl while pushing the last piece over to him.

"Deal," she said, mopping up a smear of sauce and popping the piece into her mouth.

They cleaned up in surprisingly compatible silence, dishes deposited in the washer, take out containers rinsed and compacted. No matter how tired she was, that last bit of tidying up wasn't optional. She never slept well when there was a mess left behind her, whether of the physical, mental or emotional sort, and there was enough of that piled up already. Didn't need dirty dishes and a smelly trash can waiting in the morning.

Dawn was a mere two hours away by that point and she paused, lips pursing slightly before-

"Bed's big," she said, a bit more clipped than she would have liked. "It's more comfortable than the couch, but if you'd rather I can set you up out here."

Sex was one thing. Sleeping next to someone was another. This wasn't necessarily that kind of situation, and her choice of words made it clear that he was welcome, but gave him a 'no hard feelings' out. Despite her earlier crack about rolling over to wake him up, she had no expectations in that regard.

 

[Delaney Wilder]

There was a tension in the air as she brought up the bed and the couch.

It seemed like a very obvious choice for him, but then he realized why Del was so tense about it. Two steps took him to her, hand pulling her closer to him and his lips already on hers, if softly. But the kiss was broken quickly, before it could evolve into something else. Instead his cheek brushed past hers and the whisper entered her ears as lips touched flesh.

"As long as you are the big spoon." A joke, sure, but it was also meant to put her at ease. First the kiss to reaffirm and then the whisper to underline. There wasn't much more that Walk could do... besides diving into the bed himself.

He detached himself from her and stretched softly.

"A shower first would be pleasant though." His hand brushing her side, before exiting the kitchen and back into the living room. "You should lead though, I still have no idea where everything is."

Walk hadn't really been exploring the place, after all.

But he did like the place. It was clean, organized, but with a certain sense of... humanity, someone actually did live here and it felt like it.

Quite often people cleaned and organized, until their homes looked more like art expositions and musea, instead of places where people lived. Which was a shame. A safehouse was one thing, but everyone needed a place they could truly call home.

At least if you asked Walker.

 

[Delilah Keyes]

She'd smiled at his joke, lips curving against his cheek as he'd whispered against her ear.

Del didn't *sleep* with people. Sex? Sure, whatever. That didn't mean much beyond a hopefully fun shared experience. But sleeping next to someone? That was different entirely and while he'd melted away some of the tension she hadn't even realized had been noticeable from the outside, she still wasn't entirely certain she was making the right call here. But it was out of her mouth already and taking it back would have negated why she was hesitant about the whole thing in the first place.

There was a certain vulnerability people had in sleep. And that was something Delilah Keyes did not share. The simple act of changing her mind would open that up just as surely as sleeping beside him *might*, so she internally rolled her eyes at herself and offered a smile and a chuckle at his retreat a moment later.

"It's a small place Walk, can't really get lost in here," she said with a laugh, but went turning down the only hallway that went back from just between the line where the kitchen and living room met.

"'Fresher's here, there are clean towels," she indicated the door on the right. The door on the left was closed, but by default it had to be the bedroom. "Take first dibs. Guest rights and all," she said with a smirk. "I won't steal your towel this time, promise."

Sometimes, Del carried that smirk as a sword, using it as a weapon she could wield with confidence. Right now, however, it was armor, donned hastily but oh so necessary.

[member="Walker Ducarte"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

But this was Walk they were talking about and he wasn't going to let her off the hook as easily as she might have wanted.

"Why take first dibs when we can share." before she could bring in any protestations, he had already pulled her into the bathroom. Which turned out to be quite small, if comfy in a certain sense. There was still some resistance through the laughter and smirk, but once he wrapped his arms around her? Once his lips locked themselves with hers again?

Once she was pressed against the wall?

Walk took a small break, mischievous in the eye and a smirk tugging at his lip. Pulling back he enjoyed the expression of her face for a moment.

"Of course... I could let you go now and we can shower separately, if that is what you want."

Dead-pan completely.

Truth was that Walk would let her go, of course. What was the point, if there wasn't any consent, after all.

Didn't seem right. The lady always needed a choice, a free one, a loud one, no matter what Walk wanted in the moment. It was the only fair way. Anything else was out of the question and that was the very end of it for him.

 

[Delilah Keyes]

In a small apartment, the refresher was always the smallest part, and Del usually considered this one to be down right cramped. Less room even than most ship board, if she were being honest.

But when he pulled her in, mouth hungry on hers, gently but firmly pressing her to the wall?

Seemed like pretty much the perfect size.

"Has anyone ever told you that you. Talk. Entirely. Too. Much." She punctuated each word with a hard kiss.

"Shut up and turn on the water."

*****

While it ended up taking longer than it would have if they'd taken turns, it also meant that the last vestige of the fight against sleep was out of both of them by the time they made it to bed. The bedroom was slightly smaller than the living room, and even in the darkness of the pre-dawn light that filtered in right before she closed the curtains, the pale ivory and dove that predominated the room soothed and eased. No reds in here, just the sea jewel tones of blue, violet dusk, and aquamarine accented.

The bed *was* big. Too big for one person sleeping alone it would seem, but there had not been a single sign of someone else living in the apartment with her.

Even with dawn creeping through the slit in the darkening curtains, even sharing a bed (to sleep!) with someone who she hadn't even known the day before, Del drowsed.

The heavy feeling of his hand on her hip didn't seem that strange at all.

"I hope you don't snore," she mumbled, half asleep, words slightly slurred by drowsiness.

"Might smother you with a pillow."

[member="Walker Ducarte"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

"Might let you." He mumbled. "Everything aches."

For all the right and wrong reasons.

It had been an exhausting couple of days filled with... everything. From being attacked twice over, to fleeing twice, to being cheated out of his profits... then there was the pleasant weight of Del against him (more than twice that one). The only reason Walk hadn't fallen over about six times throughout the days was his Mandalorian upbringing, but even now he was starting to feel it.

The murmurs didn't stop immediately though.

They were tired, but this was the first time they felt anything remotely close to being safe. Their soft voices faded into the background and whatever was said was lost to the light of Dawn and the coming of sleep.

***​

​

Already ten past twelve in the morning.

Walk stirred, his eyes blinking open and wondering where he was. At least until Del rolled over, mumbling something, her weight pressed against him once again. Ah, so not an erratically pleasant dream. He stretched - silently, softly - and then turned on his back. Everything still hurt. Every muscle, every fiber, even his head was still foggy with the morning blues.

But that would disappear soon enough.

Carefully, trying not to wake her already, he rolled out of the bed. There Walker did a few more stretches. Bones stressed to their focal point, but they didn't crack as much as yaaaawn in the face of the new morning.

"Time to see if there's any coffee around." Walk mumbled to himself, before putting on his pants one leg at a time.