Private Smuggling Hope

[Noah Corek Jr.]

Tag: Jahzra Rocvard

Junior found himself walking back through the passageways of the Starchaser until he finally found the bunks where he had put his duffel bag and quickly grabbed it to bring to an area where he could spread his gear out and inspect and clean it properly. This was a ritual he had gathered long before, stemming from many hours in hyperspace between deployments.

He found a table with a large enough table for him to spread his gear out. In the duffel was an array of weapons but Junior only took out what he planned on bringing to the meeting. Besides his blaster pistols that he drew from their holsters and laid up the table he also had a blast vest/plate carrier combo, slugthrower carbine, a sawed off scattergun and a pair of knives.

As he went through the well rehearsed and meticulous process of breaking these down into the component parts, checking the parts and cleaning them where needed he noticed the blood that had been spilled on him. He didn't grimace or groan, bodily fluids such as this were an occupational hazard in his line of work, and simply stripped the garment off as he had spares in the duffel.

As he went to get the spare shirt from his bag he noticed that some blood had found its way onto the bolt carrier group of the carbine and he went about scrubbing the offending matter off, leaving himself shirtless as yet another offending object in his gear came to his notice.

And so he sat there, shirtless, cleaning various pieces of his equipment. It was at this time that Jazz decided to cross his sightline, having apparently positioned himself not too far from her cabin. His jaw nearly dropped and he found himself swallowing hard as he observed her shirtless form pass him by, sure that she hadn't noticed him.

He returned to his work as she entered his cabin, still unaware of his own state of undress. His body was muscled as one would expect but it was muscled from years of training and combat, not body building. Scars littered his upper torso as well as two tattoos. First was an obvious unit insignia on his left shoulder and second was a row of tallies approximately several dozen in number.

As he heard the shower kick on he continued on his work, becoming engrossed in almost a trance like manner.

 

[Jahzra Rocvard]

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Tag: Noah Corek Jr.​

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A few minutes later, the water cycling through the ship stopped. Jazz toweled off quickly, slipping into a set of seafoam green pants that hugged her like second skin, and tossed on an athletic top. Wrapping her dark hair up in a towel, she made sure it wouldn't go anywhere and padded back out of the cabin into the main lounge area, heading for the galley.

As she passed through the area, humidity and the scent of shampoo and a flowery bodywash came with her. Gone were any signs of blood, smoke, or ozone, save for the slight scarring along her right shoulder, and peeking a little from under the top along her ribs.

Unconsciously, she started some caf brewing, filling the ship with the rich aroma. Meanwhile she leaned against the counter, forehead resting against the storage cupboards, shoulders riding high.

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[Noah Corek Jr.]

Tag: Jahzra Rocvard

He continued with his trance-like work for as long as it took for Jazz to take her shower, cleaning and maintaining his weapons and gear with the efficiency someone gained over doing the act dozens of times, which was completely true for Junior in this case.

His eyes were drawn upwards as he heard the door to Jazz's cabin open and observed her walking towards the galley, his heightened sense of smell picking up her shampoo and floral bodywash, a type of lavender from Zeltros if his nose was correct.

Quickly putting his gear back together he left them all on the table and made his way to the galley, the aroma of caf hitting his nose and making him aware of just how tired he felt after their brush with the pirates, the adrenaline having finally filtered out of his blood.

Once in the galley he observed Jazz and knew immediately what was on her mind without even having to use the Force, it was a string of thoughts he himself had often gone through. Mulling over what he should say he decided on levity. "Pour me a mug will ya?"

His smile at her wasn't flirty or teasing but was understanding and genuine, knowing that at the moment she might just need a distraction.

 

[Jahzra Rocvard]

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Tag: Noah Corek Jr.​

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The voice came out of nowhere, startling her out of her reverie with a gasp. a second later she let out the breath, shoulders dropping. . She glanced over her shoulder to regard him with one eye then nodded. Saying nothing, she fished out a pair of mismatched mugs from the closed cupboard.

"How do you want it," she said, her voice almost dead flat, mechanical. Hands moving on automatic, she poured one for herself, then for him. Reaching into the conservator, she pulled out a creamer, added some to hers. Then added a somewhat unhealthy dose of sugar. Realizing she'd forgotten a spoon, Jazz cast about the galley fora moment, then seemed to remember where they were. Fishing one out, she went to stirring, barely paying anything any mind.

Stir, stir, stir.

Finally, she took an experimental sip, then nodded to herself in approval. It would do. And the sugar would probably help sharpen her back up for now.

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[Noah Corek Jr.]

Tag: Jahzra Rocvard

When she turned to regard him he raised his hands in a placating manner and the galactic signal for either 'sorry' or 'don't shoot'. He smiled and nodded in thanks when she pulled the mugs from the cupboard and poured them both a mug.

Hearing he speak he shook his head and shrugged. "I never usually had the luxury of cream and sugar so I tend to just take it black. The bitterness helps sharpen me up almost as well as the caffeine."

Taking the mug with a smile and grateful nod his blows on it before taking a small sip, the bitterness hitting his tongue giving his brain a momentary jolt before the caffeine even started to stimulate his system. He kept sipping on the caf for a few moments before finally deciding to speak.

"Probably not my place to say but…I know what you're going through right now, at least I think I do. My advice? Don't focus on it too hard, the more you focus on it the more you start to think hard on it the more you over analyze it. Learn what you can and move on."

 

[Jahzra Rocvard]

Tag: Noah Corek Jr.​

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She nodded, carefully cradling the mug between her hands, letting it's heat seep into her skin. "It's not my first wild reek ride."

Torn dress. Exposed. Promise made. Promise kept. Bang. Blood and burnt brains. Ozone More flashes of blaster fire.

"This job is always a risk," she murmured into her mug. "Thankfully nobody died. But that's probably the closest I've come in a long time." She took an experimental sip, only half-tasting the caffeinated concoction.

"I don't see any mistakes on my part, or even yours. I feel like that went about as well as it could have." She shook her head. "I just feel sick to my stomach a little, and like a raw, exposed nerve. And exhausted. Like I've been up for a couple days. The noise is turned down on everything and yet too loud at the same time." She shook her head, her expression drawn and worn, as though the youthfulness normally there had faded.

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[Noah Corek Jr.]

Tag: Jahzra Rocvard

He chuckled at her summation of what they had gone through. "I've actually ridden a wild Reek before, surprisingly it's a pretty good comparison to a firefight."

His own thoughts reeled from past experiences. Bogan, one of the moons of Tython. Mortars and artillery raining down around him as he commanded his platoon to hold the line. They held but they'd lost many soldiers and in the end it was for nothing as the battle had been lost. A fighting retreat had cost even more soldiers.

He quickly shook the thoughts from his mind and took another sip of the caf, letting it bring the edge back to his mind at least for as long as the stimulant circulated.

He let her words on their firefight linger for a minute before speaking. "Yeah, any firefight you walk away from is a good one." He sipped at his caf again and let her words process in his mind. "Probably a little overstimulation, not uncommon. It used to happen to me all the time, honestly."

He scratched his chin a little, the stubble growing a little longer than he was used to. "Usually found that rest and meditation helped. Well…rest more than anything to be honest. Meditation was never my strong suit."

 

[Jahzra Rocvard]

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Tag: Noah Corek Jr.​

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Jazz listened, sipping at her caffeinated concoction a little more then gave a bleak little nod. Dark eyebrows fell, knitting together, jaw set. For a time she remained silent, turning it over in her head. "You're probably right," she said, finally finding a little of her voice again.

Meditation wasn't really in the cards. Sleep? Maybe. But at the same time she didn't really feel like sleeping Truth was, she didn't know where to go or what to do. ... She nodded to herself. Certainly sounded like overstimulation.

But then, what was there to do about it? Sleep. Or the other thing she sometimes did.

Jazz stepped around the island in the galley corner, brushing past him, bare feet hardly making a sound on the metal decking as she headed forward.

Moments later she eased into the captain's chair in the cockpit and put her feet up on the console. The large viewport allowed a fantastic view of the mottled blue-white rolling tunnel of hyperspace as they streaked along. Sometimes it was easy to get lost in that mesmerizing miasma

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[Noah Corek Jr.]

Tag: Jahzra Rocvard

His smile was somewhat self satisfied when she agreed to his assessment of overstimulation. He wasn't surprised, it was a common problem post-firefight. The adrenaline dump powered by the body's natural instinct was impossible to turn off, no matter how man proclaimed 'badasses' said otherwise. His own father, a man with over forty years of soldiering under his belt, still experienced it.

He sipped at his caf and studied her expression and used his senses to try and detect some of her emotions. Empathetic reading had never been his strong suit but he was able to catch bits and pieces here and there and for Jazz he felt that she was mostly just wound up and tired at the same time.

So when she brushed past him and silently made her way to the cockpit he didn't stop her, one because they didn't know each other like that and two because he didn't feel as if she was in any immediate danger from being by herself for a bit.

He finished the rest of his caf and even poured himself a refill before making his way back to his self appointed work space, checking all his gear and making sure it was all squared away. Looking at his watch he saw they still had a little over four hours so he made his way to the cockpit.

He stepped into the cockpit, making sure he had made enough noise as to not startle her; he sat down in one of the seats in it, not speaking but just letting his presence just linger there for her to acknowledge at her own convenience.