Private Service Plan

[Ara Sheridan]

Kashyyyk/Silver Rest​

Morning/Clear Skies​

Ara was home again, with a day off to boot. Her studies were all caught up, her lessons were done with Master Sol'yan, and now she had the rest of the day to herself with some peace and quiet... except it was neither peaceful nor quiet as she wrenched away on her podracer. With the last Boonta Eve, someone sabotaged her cooling and that caused the left engine to simply give up on life. Molten parts welded together with the ion engine's ludicrous heat, grime and fouling through every single pipeline, missing panels from her attempt to cool it off just enough to complete the race... it was trashed.

And everyone in the hangar would know it.

"ARE YOU KARKING SERIOUS?!" She shouted as she brought a wrench down on what was supposed to be a cooling fan in the turbine. It looked more like a wacky piece of metal that just sat there and smiled back at her. After a few frustrated swings at the engine, she tossed the wrench down and kicked the hunk of metal, only to instantly regret it as pain surged through her foot. "Karking Togrutas, I should have caved their skulls in!" Luckily the rest of the hangar was used to her antics. Not like they spoke any differently when wrenching on a tank or fighter.

With a heavy sigh she gave up on trying to fix the thing, knowing that there was no saving the modified TIE ion engine after such a disaster. She was going to have to salvage a new one, but she didn't have anyone to take along. Gillan was likely hiding from her, she couldn't ask her master, her mom was getting cozy with some stiff of a Mando on the other side of the galaxy... she didn't even know where Mathieu was. After another sigh and a few bits of her Dagwood she put the lunchbox into her backpack and tied her overalls around her waist to cool off.

She needed a smoke break.

Carefully looking around, she made her way out of the hangar towards a secluded corner and adjusted her tank top before lighting a cigarette. "Engine blown, gaskets shot to hell, molten moving components that don't move anymore... the kriff was those dudes' problem?" Her Basic teacher would likely get a heart attack after that sentence. "Come on Force, you know I'm good for it!" She called out as she looked to the heavens above her. "Who the kriff can I ask..." She muttered to herself, deep in thought as she smoked away in a, supposedly, secluded corner...

Kyell Laysel

 

[Kyell Laysel]

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Without a Master or any particular Jedi who kept an eye on him, Kyell often found himself traveling between Temples to attend public classes and at least learn... something. But of all places he could go to, Kashyyk was one of his favorites, as one of the Jedi Knights who instructed there understood sign language. She was likely the only Jedi he felt like he could communicate with in a meaningful way, so he tended to write down all his questions so he could ask her.​

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But after her lecture about Jedi History finished and he had asked his questions, the typical routine continued for the most part. He had prepared his own lunch box and brought along his flute to find a quiet place where he could eat and make some music. The other Padawans were likely goofing off somewhere again or causing trouble, but he just wanted some peace and quiet.​

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The only difference to his routine today was that his instructor had asked him to bring a box with some tools down to the hangar area. She had borrowed them to make some repairs to the heater in the lecture hall, and he wasn't the type to tell her no. So with the heavy box in his hands, he carefully walked through the loud halls of the landing area and its many hangars, trying to find the right place to return them to before his lack of physical strength got to him​

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He really needed to start working out.​

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But as he moved around a corner, he suddenly felt his foot slipping away from underneath him, as he had stepped on top of a random tool that was laying around on the floor for some reason. With a loud bang, he toppled over and hit the floor hard, just around the corner where Ara Sheridan was smoking and cussing.​

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He initially looked up with a pained expression from the fall but the second he spotted her, his eyes widened and he scrambled up to his feet rather swiftly. His face was practically on fire, and his lips were curled into an awkward smile. Even without the fall, he was often nervous around girls, especially those who were awfully direct and not afraid to speak their minds.​

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She was definitely one of those.​

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His hands then came up in an apologetic way for just a moment, before his eyes turned away from her and down to the floor. Hoping to avoid more awkwardness, he went down to his knees again and began to sweep the tools together so he could put them back in the box and be on his way.​

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Why does this always happen to me...​

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[Ara Sheridan]

Ara nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw someone crash over a tool box by the exit, quickly dropping her cigarette to crush it beneath her boot as she sprung up. "Hey, I was just-" Her stammering ceased as the guy looked up at her. "... Chilling... you look familiar." She muttered with a squint as she tried to figure out where she saw him before. It was only when he got up with an awkward smile that she realized.

"Wait, hold up! You're... that shy guy from the temple, right?" She tilted her head slightly. "Yeah, that's it! You, uh... you never told me your name, really." She pried at her memory to try and remember if he ever introduced himself, but in the process she recalled never giving her own either. "Come to think of it, neither did I..." She scratched the back of her head as her green gaze drifted off at a particularly interesting spot on the ground. She only looked back to him when he started to place the pile of tools back into the box. "Hey, leave that. That ain't yours or mine so don't worry about it." She reassured, giving his shoulder a light bump as she stood next to him. "Come on, we didn't exactly get time to talk much in the temple."

Leading him through the hangar, she reached her pod again and pulled her lunchbox from her backpack. "You want a piece?" She asked casually, offering him half of her Dagwood as she sat in the pilot's seat. "Oh yeah! The name's Ara. Ara Sheridan. You didn't say much at the temple. Like... I've met some really shy guys but even they at least said their name or something every now and then. But you didn't say much..." Her brow furrowed slightly as she studied him for a moment. "What's up? Can you even speak at all?" She asked bluntly, clearly not considering the fact that he couldn't potentially speak. "Otherwise... I can always call you 'shy guy' the whole time." She teased with a snicker.

Kyell Laysel

 

[Kyell Laysel]

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While he scrambled to get the tools back together into the box, he could hear her speak but he still wasn't making eye contact. His heart was pounding in his chest from how nervous he was but the moment she referred to him as 'shy guy' it felt like his heart was about to physically pop from his chest. He froze and felt her bump into his shoulder moments later, which drew his gaze back up to her and helped him snap out of it.​

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It was at moments like this that he really wished he could use Telepathy. But sadly, he didn't so talking himself out of awkward situations was never an option.​

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Kyell then got up to his feet and nodded as she began to lead him away through the hangar, and over to her podracer. He looked at it for a moment, using it as an opportunity to not catch himself staring at her too much. He had caused enough of an awkward situation already, even though she seemed pretty chill about it.​

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With a shake of his head, he did show he wasn't interested in what she offered. Instead, he opened up his own backpack, which had his flute inside, as well as his own lunchbox. He opened it to reveal the very neatly packed collection of fruits and other healthy snacks. He really was boring in some ways, and he knew this, but he liked it that way.​

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"Oh yeah! The name's Ara. Ara Sheridan. You didn't say much at the temple. Like... I've met some really shy guys but even they at least said their name or something every now and then. But you didn't say much..." Her brow furrowed slightly as she studied him for a moment. "What's up? Can you even speak at all?" She asked bluntly, clearly not considering the fact that he couldn't potentially speak. "Otherwise... I can always call you 'shy guy' the whole time." She teased with a snicker.

Finally, Kyell showed a bit of a smile when she introduced herself, clearly a bit more comfortable now that she wasn't teasing him. But what caught his attention, even more, was the question she asked. He immediately shook his head, hoping to make it clear that he couldn't speak but as he did, the teasing brought back his blush rather quickly too. ​

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In her defense though, he really was a shy guy.​

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Kyell then quickly gestured for the podracer with a nod of his head. The idea that she used that to race against others was interesting, and putting the focus of the conversation on her hobbies was hopefully going to make him feel less awkward.​

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[Ara Sheridan]

With the introduction he seemed to relax a bit, though the quick shake of his head told Ara precisely what she needed to know. She was dealing with a guy that was literally both options she thought of. He did make her feel bad, though. Blabbering away and asking all kinds of stuff while he couldn’t answer.

Of course, she couldn’t show him that she felt bad.

”Damn... that’s a rough one.” She muttered, awkwardly adjusting her tank top as she pursed her lips with wide eyes. He nodded to her podracer and that was simply the last nail in the coffin. ”What? The pod? Yeah, it’s mine. I drove in the Boonta Eve a while back but someone sabotaged my coolant, completely cooked the left engine inside and out. Still placed third... but damn.” Her gaze lingered on the destroyed engine for a moment before she looked back at him.

”Okay, so uh... kark it, this ain’t gonna work.” She grumbled as she fished around in her backpack to pull out her old, battered datapad. For a moment she stared at the crack on the screen. It was almost as if the crack was smaller all of a sudden... but that couldn’t be possible.

She shook her head slightly as she opened her contact list and held the device out to him. ”Here. Just add yourself and then you can send me messages. It ain’t talking but it’s better than nothing, I think.” She offered to him. Her voice was rather curt, to her dismay, but the amount of eyes around them put her on edge. It was already embarrassing to hang around in public with Gillan... now she was helping out a mute boy with trying to find a voice in some way.

Once he added himself, she quickly sent a message to his own datapad before setting it aside. ”There we go, just add me then we’re golden.” A smirk formed as she snickered to herself.

”And now you got a smooth way to get a girl’s number next time.” She joked casually, flashing him a wink.

Kyell Laysel

 

[Kyell Laysel]

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"Damn... that's a rough one."​

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Story of my life. he thought to himself as he watched her adjust the tank top with some awkwardness of her own. Not that he was one to judge, so he simply turned his eyes away from the woman and to the podracer. As long as he didn't have to try and explain things about himself, he felt a bit more confident. The idea that she was racing with it and able to maintain it was pretty cool too, although it looked pretty severely beaten up right now.​

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But then she proposed something that caused his eyes to widen — the idea to use datapads to communicate had never even occurred to him. He had always just kind of... avoided trying to communicate but this could at least let him 'talk' to other Jedi. It wasn't going to work out in the field too well, but it was a start.​

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Leaning over, he took the offered datapad and added himself to her contacts, which he did with a much brighter smile than before. Not just because he was 'getting a girl's number' but because he was excited about being able to talk in some way, even if it was just with one person.​

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So when she sent him a message, he quickly added her to his own contact list and paused for just a moment, thinking about what he wanted to say. Right, she had asked him something he still hadn't been able to answer.​

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{"I'm Kyell Laysel, thank you for this."} He blushed faintly, uncertain about what else to really say but introductions were never a bad start, right? He looked up from the datapad again, but just in time to catch her wink and teasing. The shyness showed immediately, as his face turned red and his lips curled back into that same awkward smile she had seen before.​

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To respond though, he could look back down at his datapad and briefly avoid more eye contact.​

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{"Not sure about that, but I appreciate it. But I also really owe you one, so just let me know if you need help with anything and I'll do my best."} God, was he now talking too much? This was getting weirder with the minute.​

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Ara Sheridan ​

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[Ara Sheridan]

Seeing him light up by a simple message felt good, she had to admit it. But as the message popped up on her screen, her eyes strained as she realized the flaw in her genius plan. Her reading skills were sub par. Sure, she was four years in now, but learning to read and write something other than numbers was still difficult for her occasionally. Hopefully he didn't have the vocabulary of an Arkanian scientist... and hopefully he didn't catch her stumble.

"K... Ke..." She blinked a few times, trying to figure out his name. "Kyle? No... oh! Kyell!" She grinned as she looked up at him. "Well sorry for you, but you're 'Kyle' now." She snickered. He thanked her for the gesture and offered his services to pay her back. That was something she could use. "I do, actually. Congrats Kyle, you're now my assistant mechanic and heavy lifting guy." She got up and slung her backpack over her shoulder before pulling a tarp over her podracer. "Luckily my pod's basically a hunk of junk so getting parts and fixing her up us gonna be easy. Just need to get to a junk planet with some old TIEs lying around then we're set. Come on." She led him over to another part of the hangar and quietly talked to one of the mechanics. The man didn't seem too thrilled but eventually he cleared the freighter for take-off after she dropped a handful of credits into his hand.

Flashing him a smile, she walked up the ramp and dropped into the pilot's seat. "We're cleared for take-off, dude approved the flight for us. So... let's see where a good spot is..." After a bit of scouting on the navicomputer, she selected a planet for them. A planet that made her smile like a maniac. "Location set. Raxus Prime, here we go!"

The freighter lifted off the ground and blasted off towards the edge of the atmosphere. Once they were in hyperspace, she sat back and turned to face him with her datapad resting in her lap. "Alright so tell me about yourself? You got a master or someone you work with?" She was in a peculiar situation. Now they had a means to communicate, but she didn't want to bombard him with questions when he could only type out so much in a message. "You, uh... do anything for fun? Like hobbies and stuff?"

Kyell Laysel

 

[Kyell Laysel]

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Kyell blinked as Ara was figuring out his name. Whether it was his name actually being tricky or her struggling with reading, he didn't know. It wasn't often people actually got to know his name, so he just assumed his parents made a spelling mistake when naming him at this point. It didn't really matter.​

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Kyle worked just fine, which he showed with a smile. ​

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Wait, heavy lifting guy? He blinked again and looked down at himself for a moment. While he wasn't overly frail, he was definitely not the strongest Padawan either. But he was raised to always show good manners, so lifting something heavy for someone else wasn't something he'd say no to. Kyell then followed her and remained his usual quiet self while she talked to the mechanic. It was only when she slipped some credits into his hands that he quickly began to look around, hoping nobody else just saw that.​

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Are were doing something we're not supposed to? Oh man, what am I getting myself into.​

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He still couldn't say no to her though, as he felt passionate about returning the favor. So he followed her into the ship, sat down in the co-pilot seat and looked around at all the instruments. What they meant or were used for, he also didn't really know but luckily it seemed that she was quite confident in her piloting skills.​

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When they were finally on their way to the planet he had never heard of before, she asked him a question and he'd begin to smile a little. His gaze quickly turned down to the datapad and he'd begin typing away.​

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{"I don't have a Master or Jedi I work with. I just travel between temples with public transportation to go to classes myself."} he sent his message and blinked — that probably sounded pretty sad, so he quickly added. {"It's not too bad, just a lot of traveling."}. There, that was better.​

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{"As for hobbies, I make music when I have some time alone. Not as exciting as podracing or flying ships, but music is how I see the world around me. Or well... hear the world, I guess."} he smiled a little to himself and looked back up to see and hear her response. Being able to actually talk was really exciting to him.​

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Ara Sheridan ​

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[Ara Sheridan]

While he typed on his datapad, Ara turned her attention back to the dashboard of the ship until the ping went off on her own device. Her mouth repeated the words slightly as she read them, but luckily his second message came through quick enough before she could ask him about his lack of a master. "I was about to say, dude, if you need a master then I can ask around or something. Hell, maybe my own master could help you out... then again, I'm not sure if he's got enough patience with me still around him." She chuckled as she sat back in the comfortable chair.

He sent another message which earned a few blinks from the girl as she looked back at him. "Hold up... you know music?" She asked him softly. "Dude! Seriously, you gotta teach me sometime. I've been wanting to learn how to play guitar but I don't got a clue where to start!" She burst out with a large grin. "Trade time. You teach me to play instruments and I'll teach you how to ride like a pro." She didn't exactly realized what that sounded like until after she said it. "Uh... speeders and shiz... not, uh..." A hand covered her eyes as she cleared her throat, looking away.

It was likely a messed up way of looking at it... but she was loving the dude's company primarily because of his lack of a voice. He had his issues just like her. He couldn't judge her just like she couldn't judge him. And she could reassure herself that the silence between them was simply due to a situation outside of her control rather than people not wanting to talk to her. She could relax around him. She could simply be herself without trying to put up a wall or act in a certain way when she was talking to him. They barely knew each other... but she hoped that he wouldn't just disappear on her like others tended to do.

"You know... you ain't bad. You should stick around, honestly. Don't take it the wrong way, but I've been having more interesting conversation with someone who can't talk than people who talk all the time." She stated rather bluntly with a gentle smile as she gave his leg a light tap with her boot. Rising from her seat, she gestured for him to follow as she made her way to the mess room on the freighter. "Are you hungry? You gotta be. I saw that lunchbox of yours, that ain't food dude. I gotta make you a proper burger with fries or something. Eggs, bacon, mushroom sauce, the whole nine yards..." She scrounged around the kitchen in search of ingredients as she spoke. "Or what do ya want?" She glanced at him as she brushed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind some of her horns.

Kyell Laysel

 

[Kyell Laysel]

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All of this, the talking and the socializing, was extremely new to him but it was probably the most exciting thing he's had in a long time. After years of spending the vast majority of his time on his own, it felt great to have someone around him who could talk enough for both of them. And even though she talked a lot, she also listened to him. So with a big, almost goofy smirk on his face, he looked back down at the datapad and began to type rather quickly, his excitement showing in his body language.​

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{"Some help finding a Master would be great! It has been difficult alone.}" He typed and sent quickly but then she mentioned music, and he looked up at her, his smile even bigger than before. He was about to type away furiously again when she slipped up in the way she offered him speeder riding lessons in return. A deep, red blush found its way to his cheeks but he noticed the way she reacted to her own comment as well.​

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Moments like this probably were a lot easier with him not able to speak. He just let the awkwardness die in silence and looked down again to type a response, giving her a moment without awkward eye contact.​

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{"I'd really like that. I'll teach you how to play your favorite songs and being able to ride a speeder would be... awesome!"} There was so much more he'd want to say, but he was afraid that he'd become too much. The last thing he wanted to do was scare away someone he liked, who also showed interest in spending time with him.​

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Kyell then followed her after she tapped his leg and at the question about him being hungry, something growled and his hand quickly covered his stomach. A sheepish smile followed, and he'd nod. Oh yeah, he was hungry alright.​

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{"The burger and fries sound pretty great."} Would be his first time, but it was exciting to try new things with her. Looking up again, he offered a smile and found himself blushing slightly when she tucked her hair away. He hadn't really thought about it much until now, but she was really pretty.​

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Wait, I'm staring too much. He blinked and looked around the kitchen quickly to try and hide his face for even just a second.​

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Ara Sheridan ​

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[Ara Sheridan]

Watching him type up a storm to try and answer her questions made Ara snicker to herself. Perhaps asking simpler questions would help him out a bit, she was starting to feel sorry for his thumbs and neck.

Looking down at her datapad, she gave a light nod at his answer before looking up to find his gaze lingering on her for likely longer than intended. With a snort she picked up a spatula and chucked it at his chest, shaking her head. ”I ain’t that pretty, dude.” She quipped before getting to work on their hearty meals.

While her natural instincts were to do it the quick and easy way, she forced herself to not dish up plates of greasy diner food and to put more care into their meals. It was starting to become a habit. She knew civilised people didn’t enjoy her Underworld specials as much, and she certainly liked the fresher taste, but after almost a decade of making quick and cheap food in a cantina it was hard to drop her usual cooking habits.

Still, she did include her usual flair with flipping the patties and chopping up the fries. ”I gotta admit. If this whole Jedi thing doesn’t work out for me, I’ll definitely open a diner.” She commented casually. ”But... I definitely wanna make this work. The Jedi thing. I ain’t much of an example, definitely not a role model... but this training has helped me out in other ways.”

She turned to look at him after flipping the patties. ”What made you join?” She asked him gently, leaning against the counter as she rummaged through her pocket. A few seconds later, she pulled a cigarette from her packet, though with one look at him she slipped it back into her pocket with a guilty chuckle. ”I need to quit one of these days, seriously...” She muttered.

Kyell Laysel

 

[Kyell Laysel]

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Kyell caught the spatula as she chucked it against his chest, and blinked at her comment. Chit, she noticed. He quickly cleared his throat and looked around awkwardly for a few seconds, believing it was probably for the best that he didn't try to talk himself out of that one. It was only going to make him look more awkward, while he really wanted to get more comfortable around her.​

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When his gaze finally shifted back to what she was preparing, he had to resist the urge to lick his lips. It was rare for him to eat anything outside the healthy meals he prepared, and this looked fantastic. To him, she looked like a professional cook too with the way she flipped the patties and cut up the fries herself,​

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{"I'm sure you can make it work, your heart is in the right place."} He smiled a little at the message but quickly felt like it could seem very cheesy over text, so he looked back down to type more. {"I mean uh, you're a kind person. But also a good cook it seems." he looked at her with a smile but tilted his head slightly when she put away a cigarette. ​

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Was she ashamed of it? He wasn't going to press, and just offered a comforting smile.​

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{"This might sound sad, but I first joined because I had nothing else, really. Figured I might as well do something with the whole Force sensitivity thing. But I stayed because I like helping and meeting people."} Especially people like you, but typing that was going to seem weird without him able to explain it.​

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{"As for the smoking, you definitely seem strong enough to quit if you set your mind to it."} ​

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Ara Sheridan ​

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[Ara Sheridan]

Ara gave a light scoff at his messages as she read them, looking back to him with a gentle smile. "I'm a way better cook than I am a person. You can't call yourself a good person when you come from the same place my mom and I came from. You don't survive Underworld as a good person. We're tryin' though." She admitted softly, turning around to continue with their meals.

No judgement. That's what she liked about talking to this stranger. It was nice.

Leaning over to read his next message, she halted with a snicker as she turned to look at him. "That makes to of us, my dude. When you got something other people don't and you can use it for something decent, then why not?" She quipped as she continued with their meals. His last message was noticed, though she didn't say anything to him. Merely a quick look of mixed emotions as she scooped the patties out and set them on the buns. He was right, of course. There was no excuse for her to continue and even her mother could quit after pretty much a decade. All she needed to do was set her mind to it... but at the same time, a smoke after getting worked up with her studies and training went a long way.

She hated it when people were right...

"Alrighty! Lunch is served." She set the plates down on the table and sat down to dig in. Without hesitation she went for the burger, clamping down and biting into it with no shame or attempt at modesty. Though she glanced over to him occasionally to gauge his reactions. She wasn't overly optimistic about his reaction. There was a reason why he ate the way he ate, all the healthy stuff she saw in his lunchbox. But he wouldn't lie, she had faith in that. An arguably naïve and childish faith, meant for kids and paddies who didn't know people's real colours... but it was there.

She focused instead on the humming of the engines echoing through the ship. She kept her hard and firm exterior right where it was, but her presence in the Force was something she couldn't hide or lie about. She was torn on her beliefs, and this boy was challenging those conflicts directly. But... she was fine with that. Because it was only them. Nobody else needed to know what they were talking about. It was nice.

After several hours the ship finally dropped out of hyperspace and the toxic, horrific junk-planet of Raxus Prime filled the viewport in the cockpit. Ara grinned like a maniac as she flew the ship closer. "Welcome to Raxus Prime! The galaxy's dumpster. The place is a scrapper's dream. Wrecks and refuse from dozens of eras and empires litter the landscape and every part of that planet wants to kill you." She turned to face him with an expression befitting a kid in a candy shop. "This is gonna be a blast." Jumping up, she rushed off to find the onboard hazmat suits designed for dangerous environments like these. "Funny thing is I'm willing to bet that Underworld is still worse than this. But yeah, make sure the suit is tight and sealed. You got acid rain and all kinds of other stuff down there."

The ship touched down on an open landing pad and the cargo ramp lowered. With her hazmat suit on, Ara looked around with a mix of disgust and excitement. "Look at this! It's amazing. Smells horrible but damn! You can build an entire empire with all of the scrap and tech here." She snickered as she gave him a nudge. "Wanna build an empire?" She joked.

Kyell Laysel

 

[Kyell Laysel]

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Surviving the underworld? Kyell silently wondered what that must have been like; what she had been forced to do in order to just make it through to the next day. His life has been nothing like hers at all, easy in comparison with only being mute as the occasional obstacle. So he didn't really understand her situation, but he also wasn't someone who would judge her.​

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He just nodded and continued to watch her prepare their meals, which slowly made him feel a little bad. To him, it looked like a lot of effort and he was just standing there, contributing nothing. {"On the way back, I'll handle the dishes."} he sent her way with a gentle smile. She would have to fly them back out anyway, and it made him feel like he at least helped a little bit.​

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Then it was lunchtime.​

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For a moment, he studied the way she held her burger before he tried his best to hold it the same way. He made a bit of a mess but the way his expression changed when he began to eat really showed how much he enjoyed it. Looking back up to her, he wanted to type something about the food but feared he'd just make a mess out of his datapad as well. So instead, he flashed his brightest smile and gave her a big thumbs up. ​

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When he finally finished his food, he cleaned his hands and grabbed his datapad again. {"That was amazing! Thank you for preparing all this."} his tone would never really come across over text, but his presence in the Force definitely revealed his genuine gratitude. She had opened a whole new world to him when it came to food, and he loved it.​

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But eventually, the time came for them to get to work, and it was so much more than he could have ever expected. Most planets he had been to were protected by the Jedi, and very peaceful. Now he had to wear a hazmat suit, and who knew what kind of people were out there! Ara seemed excited though, so he quickly shook off the nervous smile and followed her without his datapad. The last thing he wanted was for acidic rain to destroy his only way of talking to her and whoever else he'd meet soon enough.​

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As they began to walk, she explained a few things about the planet but he found it hard to focus — he was hyper-alert when it came to his surroundings because he felt like they could get jumped here for some reason. In reality, he had no idea if people even came here to cause trouble. It just had that underworld feeling to it.​

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"Wanna build an empire?"​

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Her question snapped him out of his trance when she nudged him, and he blinked. Turning to her, he shrugged his shoulders as if to say maybe, but he'd probably be a lousy emperor if he tried. He smirked at her and then noticed something not too far away.​

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An old tie-fighter.​

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Kyell quickly began to move and found himself looking through a pile of old components not long after. Many were damaged from the acid rain, but some looked decent. The only problem was that he knew practically nothing about the components she needed. So while she looked around with excitement, he probably seemed a tad lost.​

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Another few moments passed by when his somewhat clumsy behavior caused a few items to shift around and fall.​

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Bang​

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Ara Sheridan ​

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[Ara Sheridan]

Kyell thanked her for the meal and also offered to do the dishes, bringing a bright smile to Ara's features. Thank goodness he actually liked it. "If you feel up for it, then sure dude. I'm just glad the burgers came out fine." She commented casually as she took the plates and dumped them into the sink. On the planet, however, Ara quickly realized the issue with communication as he shrugged at her suggestion.

"Don't worry, that ain't happening soon. I got enough on my plate anyway, I don't need 'rule an empire' on there as well." She quipped. "And by the way, we need to figure out a sign language or something for ya. Datapad works but in situations like this, it's gonna be a problem." She looked around for a moment. "Just give me a sho- wave if you find a TIE that looks like it's still usable." With that she walked off to study the junk sprawled out around the landing pad. The amount of gems she could spot already was making her giddy with all kinds of ideas for mods to her swoop and pod flooding her head.

She carefully picked around the place and pushed pieces of wreckages aside in her search. The more she looked and wandered, the more she started to think about using the ship's scanners to ping some wrecks... if they even had power. This was quickly turning into a needle search... or something. "What the kriff is a haystack in the first place? Can't be that difficult to find a needle, right?" She grumbled as she kicked a piece of junk out of her way. A loud crash startled her, causing her to freeze up for a moment as she looked around. "Kyell?" She muttered.

Running as fast as she can in the direction of the crash, she quickly caught up with Kyell standing by a TIE fighter with what looked like a massive pile of trash fallen over. She stared for a moment at him, then the TIE, then at the trash. "You found one!" She cheered, throwing her hands in the air as she rushed over to him. "Dude! Nicely done!" An arm wrapped around him to give him a quick hug before she started to clamber over the old fighter. "Interior's gone but that's fine... engine still seems fine, just dirty as hell... this is a solid find, dude!" She called out from inside. Her head popped out with a smile behind her mask. "I'd say I'll buy you a drink but that's probably a bit soon, huh?" She teased with a wink. But her smile soon disappeared as she tensed up. "Hey... you feel that?" She asked him, looking around. An almost inaudible, quiet rumble echoed from somewhere.

"What is that?" She muttered. The rumbles grew louder as the ground started to shake around them. Wrecks and heaps of trash fell over and collapsed around them. "That ain't good. Let's hurry up and get-" Her voice disappeared as a mountain of garbage exploded up and an enormous creature emerged, its gaping maw swallowing debris whole.

Ara scrambled to get out of the TIE as the worm came down towards her. "Get to the ship!" She shouted, but another worm emerged, cutting them off. "Come on!" She grabbed his hand and ran deeper into the junk fields as worms consumed the hills of waste around them.

Kyell Laysel

 

[Kyell Laysel]

​

Kyell let out a long sigh of relief as all the debris fell safely around him, leaving him in the middle of a huge pile of what looked like complete junk to him. He was able to recognize the fighter but with all the damage and debris he could see, it must be pretty worthless, right? Or well, that's what he thought until Ara appeared rather quickly, and very excited about what he had found.​

​

He blinked at the quick hug but kept his composure, and watched as she dashed over to the remains of the Tie fighter to climb inside. Seeing her traverse the path of junk and debris, he held up a hand as if to say Please be careful, but she looked like she had done this countless of times, so he quickly lowered it again.​

​

Kyell then slowly stepped over and tried to climb his way up to where she was looking for parts, but he wasn't very fast and she already found a few things by the time he got remotely close to her.​

​

"I'd say I'll buy you a drink but that's probably a bit soon, huh?"​

​

He blushed but within this hazmat suit, he was able to hide it by briefly turning his gaze away, pretending to have seen something in the pile of components. A faint, nervous cough escaped him and he decided it was best to just quickly keep climbing. That was, at least, until he felt the rumble she mentioned as well. It forced him to stop and as silence lingered between them, he did his best to listen.​

​

An explosion of debris and junk followed and as the beast appeared, Kyell felt his heart explode out through his chest from fear. Every inch of his body screamed for him to run, but Ara was still in the fighter, and he wasn't going to leave behind a friend. So without the fear of climbing from before, he jumped over and helped her scramble her way out of the fighter right before a huge worm buried itself into it.​

​

Thank fu-​

​

He had no time to even think, as more of them appeared to cut off the path to the ship. With no way out, he stood frozen, completely uncertain about what to do next, but Ara grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the worms, and deeper into the junk fields. He kept running with her as debris fell around them and while they passed through without much trouble, their luck wasn't going to last forever.​

​

A large metal piece of debris fell right in front of him, causing him to hit his knee against it, and fall over onto the ground. He let go off Ara's hand in the process, and tried to push himself back up to his feet despite the pain and fear that his suit was compromised. But behind him, a huge worm was rapidly approaching as well.​

​

With a wave of his hand, he gestured to Ara to keep running. With his knee hurt, he'd only hold her back.​

​

​

Ara Sheridan ​

​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

The two of them kept running deeper into the fields of Raxus Prime as the worms writhed and engulfed huge pieces of garbage around them. They ducked and jumped around and Ara kept a solid grip on Kyell. If they lost each other, they would have a problem.

Which was why Ara skidded to a halt when she felt him slip from her grip. His knee was busted and he motioned for her to go on while the worm drew closer. For a moment there was the thought, but subconscious actions overwhelmed and Ara soon threw him over her shoulders with a heavy grunt.

She pressed on, everything else falling away as adrenaline took over and pushed her further with the hefty weight on her shoulders. Only when the noises fell away and they reached what seemed like an old star destroyer’s bridge, did Ara set him down and dropped to the floor with heavy gasps.

”Karking... hell dude...” She heaved as she looked at him then leaned back. Once she regained her breath, she leaned over and tried to check his knee, but the suit made it impossible. ”This is an old hull. There should be a medical wing in here somewhere that can seal and filter the atmosphere for us.” She looked around, placing a hand on his shoulder.

”Are you okay?” She asked as she looked back to him with sincerity in her green eyes.

Kyell Laysel

 

[Kyell Laysel]

​

When he waved for her to keep going, Kyell had just about accepted the fact that he'd be worm food. He had no idea if his knee was fractured or if it was just severely bruised, but he wasn't able to get up to his feet without the pain immediately forcing him back down. The worst part, to him, is that this little trip was going to be his first time on a planet that wasn't entirely safe and guarded by Jedi. His first time away from the Temples and he got himself killed.​

​

But Ara seemed to have entirely different plans, and while the worm was still charging after them, she returned and used all her strength to lift him over her shoulder. It was a bit surprising to see her lift his entire weight like this, causing him to blink, but he wasn't going to complain. All he did was try to be as still as possible, so she could move more easily.​

​

With the worms still swarming in the area around them, the two finally made it to safety on board an old star destroyer, where she set him down so she could catch her breath. The hazmat suit made it difficult to check on his knee but with adrenaline fading, he could feel the pain getting worse. All he could do was look in her direction with an apologetic frown until she asked him a question.​

​

"Are you okay?"​

​

Kyell's face was covered in sweat, purely from the injury he sustained and his body responding to it. For people to pass out after getting sudden injuries wasn't uncommon, but he really tried his best not to. He just nodded to say that he was okay, and looked down at his knee. As much as it hurt, he didn't want to look weak right now.​

​

Looking around for a moment, Kyell gestured for a panel with his head — there seemed to be some light coming from it. If it was still working, it could maybe offer them some direction to find a medbay or some other way off this planet.​

​

​

Ara Sheridan ​

​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

He was obviously not okay.

"Don't worry, just sit tight. I'll get ya patched up." She muttered, giving his injured leg a reassuring slap as she got up to inspect the blinking console behind them. "Holy kriff... this thing still got power?" She muttered in shock, studying the switches and dials. After a few moments, a few switches were flipped and lights buzzed to life around them. "Generator's on its way out but somehow still working. I ain't complaining. Let's see if this thing's got a..." She tapped and flipped away for a moment before a holomap projected in the center of the bridge. "Perfect!"

She made notes as she studied the map for a moment, her attention quickly drawn to what seemed like a hangar with some structural integrity still holding. "Alright, let's get you patched up. And then we're checking that hangar out." She picked Kyell up and carefully walked with him through what remained of the ship. Cannon holes littered the path and allowed them to get a fantastic view of the planet. Though there was one sight that caused Ara to stop for a moment.

A shadow against the wall by a hole. A shadow burned against the hallway in the shape of a person. Her gaze was empty as she stared at the sight for a moment. "I didn't know that could even happen..." She cleared her throat after glancing at Kyell, continuing further with the path. "I mean... yeah, that's war for ya." A tough voice erected as she forced herself not to look back. Eventually they reached the infirmary and Ara sealed it shut. Only once the systems went green did she remove her helmet and unzip her hazmat suit, taking a deep breath of the purified air around them. "Come on, let's get you out of this."

She helped him onto a table and started to remove his suit for him. Her troubled gaze gave way to a smug grin as she looked up at him. "Well ain't you a lucky guy today, huh?" She teased, giving him a light nudge.

Kyell Laysel

 

[Kyell Laysel]

No, please don-​

​

With every bit of mental strength he had, he resisted the urge to wince or shift around uncomfortably when she slapped his injured leg. He wanted to try and seem tougher around her, so he had to stop looking weak and clumsy. Kyell's gaze then followed her and slowly but surely, the ship was coming back alive when she started to flick through some switches. It was quite remarkable that a ship this old was still working and like her, it wasn't something he'd complain about.​

​

The map was activated moments later, and with Ara still having to carry him, the two began to move towards the medbay. What they saw along the way caused him to frown and once again, the horror of the ongoing wars became just a little more visible to him. It made him realize that he had been sheltered from reality a little too much.​

​

Eventually, though, they made it into the medbay and he was set on the examination table. Without really thinking about it, he tried to help her remove his hazmat suit but that's when she decided to make her teasing comment. No amount of mental fortitude was going to save him here, and his face turned bright red as a result while he looked up at her for a moment.​

​

He swallowed and as quickly as he could, looked back down to remove what was left of the suit. It revealed the injured knee, which was cut open and bleeding, and likely bruised as well. But at least it wasn't broken, so with fairly basic treatment, he'd be able to walk just fine again. However, before Ara could turn away to grab what they'd need, he reached over and gently grabbed her wrist to get her attention.​

​

When their eyes locked, he simply smiled in a way to show his gratitude more clearly. She had already done so much for him — probably more than she realized, and somehow he wanted her to know this. He let go after a moment if she hadn't already pulled her hand free and looked back at his knee.​

​

We're going to make it out of here.​

​

Ara Sheridan ​

​